Dreher’s Dominic Boyd looks to pass against Brookland–Cayce’s John Coughlin. Photos by Paulene Cruse The three point line was extremely generous to Dreher as the Blue Devils hit 11 three pointers in an 85–74 win against Brookland– Cayce Tuesday, January 26 at Dreher. After storming out to a 13–point first quarter lead, built mostly on three pointers, it was at the free throw line that Dreher sealed the victory. Quayshun Hawkins was Dreher’s leading scorer with 23 points that included seven three pointers, while Dominic Boyd and Chris Brown provided some help with 17 and 13 points respectively.

Brown scored the first three points of the game, giving the Blue Devils a 3–0 lead. After Jonathan Rumph hit a bucket to make the score 5–4, Dreher pulled away. Three straight possessions provided three straight three pointers. Two from Hawkins and one from Boyd gave Dreher a 14–4 lead. That was only the beginning of what turned out to be a 13–0 run by the Blue Devils giving them an 18–4 lead. Buckets from Vince Odom and Curtis Barber sandwiched another three pointer from Hawkins, giving Dreher a 21–8 lead after the first quarter.

Brookland–Cayce’s Vince Odom goes in for a lay up against Dreher. The Blue Devils were just as hot in the second quarter. A basket and a foul shot by Odom cut the Devils lead to 21–11, but a 7–1 run by Dreher extended the lead to 28–12.

A 7–3 run by Brookland– Cayce, led by three points from Rumph, cut the lead to 31–19. However, Dreher stormed back. A bucket from James Whitehead was followed by two free throws from Brown and two from Derrick Halback to give Dreher a 37–21 lead. The Bearcats cut the lead to 42-31 late in the second quarter, but the Blue Devils ended the quarter with eight straight points. Hawkins drained two straight threes to give Dreher a 50–31 lead.

In the third quarter, buckets from Brown, Halback, and Tyler Harris gave Dreher its biggest lead of the night at 23 points. However, the Bearcats began to chip away. Three buckets from Rumph and Tyler Lytes and one from Barber cut the Dreher lead to 64–48 at the end of the third quarter.

The Bearcats continued chipping away at the Dreher lead. After allowing the Blue Devils to extend the lead to 75–56, Rumph and Barber helped the Bearcats claw their way back into the game. Rumph made two baskets, cutting the lead to 77–60. Then Barber took over scoring eight of the next ten points for Brookland– Cayce. Rumph finished the 14–4 run by hitting two free throws making the score 79–72.

After Kaelan Shaperson and Rumph traded baskets, Hawkins hit a pair of free throws, and Boyd hit a bucket to help Dreher to the 85–74 win.