The Dorman Cavaliers continued their dominant run in “The City Rivalry” on the hardwood last night with an 86-76 victory over Spartanburg. The Cavaliers move to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in region play, as the Vikings fell to 6-9 overall and 0-3 in region play. Let’s dive into my four points from Dorman’s 17th straight victory over Spartanburg High.
Jaden Johnson – Simply put, Jaden Johnson was the best player on the floor in this game. The sophomore proved that he is not only an excellent three-point shooter, but that he can consistently score at all three levels. Johnson also did a fantastic job of getting downhill and fighting through contact. He helped spurt big runs in both the second and fourth quarters, including back-to-back and-ones late in the fourth. Johnson might only be a sophomore, but he played like a seasoned veteran against the Vikings.
Vikings Hot Start – Spartanburg had a lot of folks inside of Dorman Arena looking stunned after the first quarter last night. The Vikings led 21-11 at the end of the first eight minutes of play. Dylann Harris and Johnston Abrams came out on fire for Spartanburg, scoring at willing from outside. These two continued to power the Vikings offense all night. However, in the first quarter, I did not think these two would miss a shot all night. They also helped weather Spartanburg weather a 14-2 Dorman run in the second quarter, as the game was tied at 35 during the halftime break.
Defense Was Existent – In many cases, we can look at a high scoring high school basketball like this one and think there was not a lot of defense. However, there was some high-quality defense from each side. Logan Norton from Spartanburg had three steal in about 70 seconds of action during the third quarter last night. Dorman’s Keegan Arcega-Whiteside added two blocks, and the Cavaliers’ Point Guards Jaden Johnson, Peden Brezeale, and Kameron Smith all added steals to their stat sheets. Sure, there were a few uncontested three-point shots last night, but there was also some solid defense that showed up in the box score and some that did not.
Closing the Gap – The story currently in “The City Rivalry” continues to be about Dorman and now their 17 straight wins over Spartanburg. However, the Vikings are closing that gap. Spartanburg was not run off of the floor last night like some expected. Furthermore, the Vikings were the better team at some points in this ball game. Spartanburg’s Second-year Head Coach Zac Rich is doing a phenomenal job with this program. Dorman is still really good again this year and will compete with the best of the best in the Palmetto State, but the time for Spartanburg to do the same may not be too far away.
