Dreher’s Derrick Halback draws a foul from A.C. Flora’s Akeem Williams. Photos by Mike Maddock Midway through the second quarter, Dreher senior Chris Brown signaled coach Jon Richards to call a timeout.

Once the team gathered at the bench, Brown sprinted out of the gym, leaving Richards to put in a substitute.

It turned out that Brown was under the weather – but he wasn’t going to miss a rivalry game against A.C. Flora. And after he returned to the game moments later, Brown made certain his performance sickened the Falcons.

The guard scored a season– high 37 points including six 3–pointers in an 82–63 victory Tuesday night.

“Chris and his teammates know that if he doesn’t take the shot from some of those places he shot from tonight then he made the wrong decision,” Richards said. “I know he’s going to hit those. But I was not pleased with our offense tonight. A.C. Flora got us out of what we wanted to do, and we didn’t execute the offensive sets with the regularity we need.”

Dreher’s Chris Brown blocks out A.C. Flora’s Matthew Howard. Brown scored 37 points. Part of that was due to so much of the game being played in transition.

The Blue Devils were playing their fifth game, thanks to an appearance Thanksgiving week in the annual Lake Murray Tournament, while A.C. Flora was playing its opener after a few scrimmages.

The difference was apparent from the opening tip. The Blue Devils repeatedly deflected passes and used its quickness to knock the ball loose when guarding offensive players. The result was more than 30 Falcons turnovers.

“That was a big difference,” Richard said. “Sometimes, even when your press isn’t producing steals, it gets people out of the tempo they want to play in.”

Of course, Dreher battled its own demons committing more than 20 turnovers. However, the Blue Devils opened a 10–point lead midway through the first quarter and 13–point leads at the quarter and half. They cracked 20 for the first time late in the third quarter following a flurry of 3–pointers from Brown (two) and Derrick Halback (one) and Dreher coasted from there.

In addition to Brown, Dominic Boyd and Quayshun Hawkins added 10 each and nine Blue Devils scored. For A.C. Flora, Matthew Howard scored 18 and Marquis Simuel added 10.