When Grafton and Bruton squared off back in early December for a showdown between the two Bay Rivers District boys basketball favorites, they didn’t disappoint.
The entertaining, fast-paced contest was back-and-forth for 29 of the game’s 32 minutes before the host Clippers pulled away late for a 67-56 victory that was far closer than the final score indicated.
Nonetheless, it was an early-season statement by Grafton that the Clippers have every intention on repeating as district champs – a goal that coach Jeremy Jordan says his team has passionately embraced since the preseason along with reaching a second-consecutive state final four after a heart-breaking overtime loss in last year’s Group AA championship against Blacksburg.
Bruton, on the other hand, is more concerned with positioning itself as a top one or two seed in the extremely competitive Division 4 regional field, which includes Group AA powerhouse and defending state champion Brunswick.
Both teams will learn a lot more about their futures when the two sides bump heads for a final regular-season meeting this Wednesday at Bruton High.
Grafton (14-2, 12-0 BRD) enters the game a perfect 12-0 in the district having won all but one game – a 66-63 win at Warhill – by double-digits.
Bruton (11-1, 11-1 BRD) has also been on a roll since a Dec. 3 loss at Grafton, winning nine-straight to remain a game back of the unbeaten Clippers.
While not belittling the significance of a district championship, Panthers’ first-year coach Joe Dillard says his team is approaching the contest with far loftier aspirations in mind.
After finishing the regular season 3-5 following a 10-0 start in the district a year ago, Dillard added that his team isn’t afraid of putting a high price on the cost of victory, either, in order to keep players mentally sharp.
“This is the benchmark game of our season,” Dillard said during his team’s practice on Monday. “After we lost to Culpeper two years ago in regionals, me and a couple of the guys who were young then but were still key parts of the team talked about wanting to end their careers on a higher note.
“We’ve been telling ourselves that if we win this game on Wednesday, we see ourselves in states. If we pull out this victory on Wednesday, we strongly believe that we will eliminate the slip=ups we had last year and put ourselves in great position to earn a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in regionals.”
While acknowledging that a state-tournament berth is the team’s No. 1 goal and that Wednesday’s game could be a launching pad to get there, Bruton’s captains say they’re also focused on keeping the team humble.
“We’re confident because we’ve been here before, but it’s important for us as captains to make sure guys don’t get big-headed,” said senior forward and co-captain Chad Simmons. “We remind the team constantly that we’ve lost to [Grafton] two of the last three times we’ve played them, and even though we’ve been playing well lately, we still have to go out there and execute.”
The Panthers’ run-and-gun offense feeds of their high-pressure defense, which means execution could rely heavily on slowing down district Player of the Year frontrunner Elijah Moore of Grafton, who leads the district with a 20 point-per-game scoring average. Moore turned in a typical performance in the first meeting finishing with a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double in leading the Clippers to victory.
Foul trouble also proved costly for Bruton in the loss, which makes junior Marcus Carter, the team’s leading scorer at better than 15 ppg, believe the difference in Wednesday’s outcome could boil down to his Panthers’ remaining mentally strong.
“I was one of a couple of players who got in foul trouble the first time we played,” Carter said. “We know we can play with [Grafton]; we just have to stay focused and not make mistakes that take us out of our rhythm.”
Carter’s classmate and fellow captain Kapri Doucet agrees that mental mistakes could be the difference, adding that the team has a certain swagger about themselves when playing with high confidence.
“If we lose, we feel like it’s because we beat ourselves,” Doucet said. “We have the mindset that we should win every time we step on the court as long we play our game.
“We’re not cocky, we’re confident.”
What: Grafton (12-0 BRD) vs. Bruton (10-1 BRD)
When: Wednesday, January 16th- 7 p.m.
Where: Bruton High
