Council in session as Bulldogs down Devils
~January 29, 2008~Boys
Story and Photos by Michael Orr

Dreher's Kenneth Joyner goes in for a lay up late in the game.

The trio of Council brothers combined to score 46 points as Camden came from six points down at the end of the third quarter to defeat Dreher, 64- 57 on January 29. Jay Council's ten points in the fourth quarter propelled the Bulldogs who trailed the Blue Devils for the majority of the game. It was the first home game for Dreher since hosting Lugoff- Elgin December 18.

Each team opened the game according to their strengths with Dreher trying to pound the ball inside and Camden shooting outside jump shots. With a superior size advantage, the Blue Devils worked to feed Kenneth Joyner and Sylvester McCrae in the paint, but the Bulldog's three- two zone defense swarmed each time the ball was passed inside the perimeter.

Camden struggled in the early going to connect on their outside shots, scoring only nine points in the quarter. Halfway through the first, Dreher coach Jon Richards substituted out all five of his starters, bringing an entirely different team onto the court. Sophomore Chris Brown took advantage of his insertion by scoring nine points in a three- minute span, giving the Blue Devils a four point lead after one.

Dreher's Case Stiglbauer dunks in the second half against Camden.

Dreher opened the second quarter with a full court press designed to slow the ball movement of the Camden offense. Instead, the Bulldogs easily broke the press and were able to score inside with the Dreher defense not yet fully set up. Robert Council scored nine points in the quarter, challenging the talented Blue Devil shot- blockers on every attempt. Dreher again used its five- man substitution and attacked defensively.

The shift in opponent gave the Bulldog's Sterling Council an opportunity to score late in the half as the shifty guard added nine points of his own, pushing Camden to its first lead of the game. A three- pointer at the buzzer by Dreher left the score tied at half, 27- 27.

The third quarter opened with each launching, and making threepointers. While Camden is usually a very strong outside shooting team, its success is limited when solely reliant on three- pointers.

Dreher's Marquel Goodman floats under the hoop in attempting a reverse lay up in the fourth quarter.

Dreher was able to force such a situation in the third quarter as the Bulldogs completely abandoned their inside game and settled on outside shots, whether they were open or not. The result was an opportunity for the Blue Devils to edge ahead with balanced scoring. Five players combined to score Dreher's 14 points in the third as the Blue Devils created breathing room with a 42- 38 advantage entering the fourth.

Camden snapped out of its outside shooting daze to get back to the hustling, hard- working game plan it brought to Dreher. Scoring the first eight points of the third quarter and regaining the lead, the Bulldogs captured and maintained momentum with their hard- nosed play.

Sterling Council made several anticipatory steals giving his team much needed easy shots in fast break opportunities. Sophomore Dominic Boyd's back-to-back threepointers with 1:54 to play brought Dreher within four points. But Sterling Council made clutch free throws down the stretch, and his brother Jay scored ten points in the quarter to seal the road victory for the Bulldogs.

Dreher finishes the season with three more home games, the next of which is Friday, February 1 against Eau Claire, whom the Blue Devils defeated January 8, 56- 47.