Now that the construction of new bleachers inside Bruton High’s gymnasium is complete, Panthers’ boys basketball coach Joe Dillard kissed center court upon returning to his team’s home court for practice Monday.
“It was like heaven,” said Dillard, whose team has spent the first month of the season playing all of their games on the road and practicing on any school with an open gym. “That’s our home. Practice never felt so good.”
But Dillard was quick to point out that Monday was no ordinary practice.
For one, Dillard implemented a much more rigorous conditioning regimen after giving his team, which has not played a game in two weeks, a week off for Christmas as reward for a dominant 5-0 start to the season. More importantly, the Panthers travel to play Grafton (8-1, 6-0 BRD), the only other unbeaten team in the Bay Rivers District, at 7 p.m. Friday for the most anticipated district showdown of the season.
Grafton coach Jeremy Jordan, whose Clippers have played in more big games than anyone the past couple years as the two-time defending district and region champs, says Friday’s meeting between the two teams “could have more buildup for a game in early January than there’s been in years.”
“It’s hard as a coach to put too much into a regular season game this early in the season, especially since there is no more district tournament [under the VHSL’s new postseason realignment],” Jordan said. “But make no mistake about it, bragging rights are on the line so both teams want this one.”
Dillard said the Panthers have had this game circled on their calendar since before the season started.
Last year, Bruton’s only two losses during the regular season came against Grafton. Sure, the Panthers still went on to make an impressive postseason run that ended in the Division 3 state semifinals. Dillard said this year his team is eager to prove themselves as the new class of the district before embarking on hopefully another deep postseason run in the newly formed Class 2A, where Bruton is currently ranked No. 1 in the state according to the Virginia Preps weekly poll.
And they’re off to a heck of a start. In five games this season, Bruton has outscored its opponents a combined 416-197, or by an average of 84-40 per contest. But Dillard and the Panthers know Grafton will be a tougher out than any they have faced so far this season. The Clippers have, after all, won 52 out of their last 53 games against district opponents.
Dillard spoke for his senior trio of Marcus Carter, Lonnie Swinton and Kapri Doucet when he said “it’s personal and they’re hungry,” in reference to the fact that Bruton has never won at Grafton during those players’ tenures.
“They’re obviously the two-time defending [district] champs and have a 40-some game winning streak at home,” Dillard said of Grafton. “So we feel like a win would give us the recognition we feel like we deserve.”
If Grafton has an advantage entering Friday, it’s the Clippers gained a ton of confidence and experience playing against quality opponents after competing in the annual Ronald Curry/Boo Williams Holiday Classic last weekend.
The Clippers not only went 2-1 during the three-day tournament beating Warwick High and Freedom High, but they also won both games without standout forward Evan Sperling, whose status remains questionable for Friday’s showdown because of an ankle injury.
“Having not had Evan against Warwick and Freedom and still finding a way to win speaks to our kids’ attitude and effort,” Jordan said. “They could have made excuses, but instead found a way to get it done which is a huge confidence booster, I think.”
Jordan said his biggest concern entering Friday is how his young guards, freshman starter Cle’von Greene and sophomore backup Brent Parker, will handle the pressure of Bruton’s renown full-court pressure defense that has been giving opponents fits so far this season. Senior guard Joey Miller is a proven ball handler, but it typically takes more than one to maneuver through Bruton’s smothering traps.
“It could come down to our young guys valuing every possession and maintaining good ball control, because if you turn it over against [Bruton] you’re going to be in trouble,” Jordan said.
While Dillard said he is not too concerned with a two-week break cooling off his team’s red-hot start, he said it will be a good test to see how quickly his guys return to form.
“This is Grafton we’re talking about, so they know what’s at stake and I have no doubts they’ll be ready,” Dillard said. “We have the toughest test of our season coming out of break and that’s just the way it is. It will be a great way to show where we stand.”
Bay Rivers District Boys Basketball
What: Grafton (8-1, 6-0 BRD) vs. Bruton (5-0, 5-0 BRD)
When: 7 p.m., Friday, January 3
Where: Grafton High
