Five Big Things: Byrnes Dominates Dorman
The Byrnes Rebels and Dorman Cavaliers met in Roebuck on Tuesday night in a highly anticipated matchup of perhaps the two best teams in our area, certainly the two best 5A teams in the county. With not much to distinguish the two teams resumes to this point, the better of the two was decisively settled as Byrnes never trailed in a 73-49 win on the road. Here are my biggest takeaways from the game.
1-At this moment, Byrnes not only is the best team in the county, they might be the best team in the state. The Rebels play a beautiful, fluid, and still aggressive style of basketball that is jaw-dropping to watch when it is played to perfection as it was last night. On the defensive end, Byrnes is in your face on-ball and crashes the glass on misses. After it secures the rebound as it often does, the offense is always looking to pass first to find the open shooter. That shooter more than likely has the ability to score at all three levels, and the cycle of misery for the opponent continues after that shooter splashes it home.
2-My favorite thing about watching the Rebels play is how well they play together. Byrnes seems like they have locked down a tight seven man rotation for when postseason play begins, and they all have an important role in the team. Freshman guard Colt Fowler will quarterback the offense, always looking to pass (sometimes even when he isn’t looking) but will hit the open three when you give it to him. He’ll cut to the basket, absorb contact from bigger and stronger defenders, float the ball to the rim and still get it to fall with a foul. His brother Will Fowler will do the same, attack the biggest players on the defense at the rim. Kayzzin McDowell can play at the rim, but also stretch it out to hit the three like his frontcourt-mate Evan Enos.
3-Dorman, coming off of a loss to Greer on Monday, has now lost back-to-back games for the first time since December 2021 and its first region loss since January 2018. Tuesday night, the Cavaliers took too long to start hitting shots. Especially with the pace the Rebels were setting early on, Dorman had a ton of one-and-done possessions of a miss and Byrnes rebound. The Cavaliers played a zone for much of the first half, and against a Rebels unit that passes and moves the ball so well it can be very difficult to defend that in a zone.
4-Christian Andrews was the most consistent bright spot on offense for Dorman, who finished with 20 points and hit two three pointers in the second half. Keenan Arcega-Whiteside overcame a slow start and foul trouble to finish with 13 points. Outside of those two, scoring was very hard to come by for the Cavaliers who were punched in the face right from the jump and never recovered.
5-I’ll go ahead and answer the question you’re probably asking yourself right now. February 2nd in Duncan. That’s when these two teams meet again, perhaps still the two best teams in 5A in the upper state.
