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Dunford leads SM past Maroon Devils
Dillon Dunford scored 24 points Monday leading Smoky Mountain to a 65-52 non-conference basketball win at Swain.
Tyson Crawford added 17 points for the Mustangs (4-3).
Josh Allman led the Maroon Devils with 17 points, and Cory Hipp had 14.
“I was proud of our effort,” Coach Scott Hartbarger said. “We played hard. Dillon had a good game. He’s making better decisions in running our offense. Tyson also had a good game. Our bench gave us a spark then our starters went back in and were able to finish the game for us.”
SM led throughout the contest as five early points by Crawford made it 7-2 with 5:43 to go in the first quarter. His 18-footer extended the lead to 12-5 at the 2:49 mark, and the margin was 16-11 at the quarter break.
Swain stayed within striking distance most of the night. The biggest lead of the half was 30-22 after Siler scored inside with 1:56 on the clock, and the Mustangs led 32-26 at intermission.
Three-pointers by Taylor Gilleland and Dunford in the last two minutes of the third stanza put SM on top 48-36.
The game’s biggest lead was 53-38 after Gilleland’s trey with 6:51 remaining.
Dunford hit 10 field goals, including two three-pointers, and two foul shots. Crawford connected on six field goals, including a trey, and four of four free throws.
Gilleland and Siler both finished with six points, Matt Hawkins followed with five, Josh Jones scored four and Dayne Bowers had three.
The Mustang JVs fell to 2-4 with a 56-38 loss. After a 4-4 first quarter tie, Swain moved in front 20-10 at halftime and 40-23 through three periods.
David Cheatham led SM with 12 points.
“Sometimes it’s a painful process when you’re this young to go through this and let them learn how to play basketball,” Coach Jim Hartbarger said. “They’re energetic and they’re going to keep working at it. Every game they’re going to get better. Maybe by the time we hit our conference, we’ll be ready to go.”
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