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Strong start helps Brevard shut down Smoky Mountain
Smoky Mountain dug itself a deep early hole Friday and never recovered in a 58-39 loss at Brevard in the Western Athletic Conference basketball opener.
Aaron Baptist scored 21 points for the Blue Devils, and Pete Camezind had 11.
Dillon Dunford led the Mustangs (4-8) with 15 points.
“If we could have played a little better defense in the first quarter, we might have had a shot at it,” Coach Scott Hartbarger said. “They scored 26 of their 58 points in the first quarter.”
Baptist scored nine and Camezind had eight, including a pair of three-pointers, as Brevard shot to a 19-2 lead with 3:28 to go in the first quarter, which ended with the Devils on top 26-7.
SM scored the final six points of the half, including four by Tyson Crawford, cutting the gap to 33-21.
Baptist connected for the first five points of the second half extending the lead to 38-21.
The Devils led 47-29 entering the fourth quarter.
Dunford’s three-point play brought SM within 48-35 with 5:49 on the clock.
Brevard sealed the win with a 10-2 run, including four by Jonathan Owen, for a 58-47 lead after two foul shots by Brian Carrington with 25.2 seconds left.
“I was extremely proud of the guys,” Hartbarger said. “We didn’t quit. We went to a box-and-one, and that confused them a little bit.”
He said Dunford and Martin Davis did a good job as chasers in the box-and-one which focused at different times on Baptist and Camezind.
Dunford made five field goals, including two treys, and three free throws.
Matt Hawkins and Taylor Gilleland both finished with six points, Crawford and Cory Siler followed with five apiece and Josh Jones had two.
A late basket by the Blue Devil JVs gave them a 50-49 win in double overtime.
“What can you do?” asked Coach Jim Hartbarger. “He couldn’t have made one out of 20 of those. The kids played hard. They’re coming together.”
Trey Shular scored 16 points for the Mustangs (3-8). Cort Smith and David Cheatham had 14 and 10, respectively.
Brevard was up 11-8 after the first quarter and 20-19 at halftime. The teams were tied 30-30 through three periods, 40-40 after regulation and 47-47 at the end of one overtime.
Due to incorrect information being provided, leading JV scorers in a game against Rabun County (Ga.) were wrong in last week’s Herald. Adam Henson scored 16 points. Logan Buchanan added 11, and Smith had 10.
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