Dreher’s Chris Brown leans in for two of his 25 points. Photo by Paulene Cruse The hottest battle on the court Friday night at Dreher wasn’t on the scoreboard. It was between Dreher’s Chris Brown and Airport’s Lance White. Both players led their respective teams in scoring but also provided some great back and forth scoring. In the end, like his team, Brown got the best of White, outscoring his counterpart 25–20. In the process he helped Dreher claim a 73–57 win over the Airport Eagles.

Dreher came out and took the fight to the Eagles, opening the game on a 13–6 run. Dominic Boyd had the hot hand early on, scoring the first bucket of the game and then hitting the final four points of the run. Buckets from White, Raymond Pinkston, and Ricardo Martin, helped the Eagles cut the deficit to four at 17–13. However, Brown and Tim Pierce scored the final four points to end the first quarter, giving Dreher a 21–13 lead.

Airport’s Lance White dunks against Dreher. Photo by Paulene Cruse Brown and White opened the second quarter scoring the first five points. Brown started with a two point bucket. White responded with a bucket of his own, and then Brown hit a three–pointer to get the best of his counterpart early on. The consecutive baskets by Brown gave the Blue Devils a 26–15 lead.

Dreher continued to widen the lead. A 12–4 run gave Dreher its biggest lead of the half at 38–21. Brown led the way with five points with Boyd, Quay-shun Hawkins, and Tyler Harris each contributing a bucket. However, Airport responded with a 9–2 run at the end of the half to keep the score within reach. The highlight of the run was consecutive buckets from Pinkston and Tay Drakes to cut the deficit to ten points at 40–30 at the end of the half.

The beginning of the third quarter provided round two between Brown and White. Again Brown opened the scoring with a two point jab. White responded with a two point jab of his own. Brown countered with a two point shot. White got the best of Brown in this particular round ending the sequence with three straight points.

After the White and Brown show was over for the third quarter, Airport had the deficit down to single digits at 44–35. However, two buckets from Boyd and a bucket from Hawkins brought the lead back up to 12 at 51–39. Two straight buckets from Harris at the end of the quarter extended that lead to 55–40.

An early 6–3 run to start the fourth quarter seemingly took the wind out of the Airport sails. An opening bucket from Brown and then two buckets from Harris gave the Blue Devils a 61–43 lead. Airport was never able to mount a comeback, while Harris and Brown made baskets in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter to seal the 73–57 victory for Dreher.