The Spartanburg Vikings earned first region win of 2025 with a 64-56 victory over the Gaffney Indians. Both teams are now 1-4 in Region 2-5A, as the Vikings improve to 7-10 overall, and the Indians fell to 4-11. Let’s dive into my four points from a much-needed win for the Vikings.
Spartanburg’s Flow– I have had the chance to see Spartanburg play a good bit this season. What has impressed me the most every time I have watched them play is the scoring abilities of both juniors Johnston Abrams and Dyllan Harris. Last night, they still led the Vikings with 15 and 13 respectively, but everyone got involved too. The junior forward Aiden Olley added 11 points, as well as Kyler Jaggers and Logan Norton adding 10 a piece. The Vikings had five guys in double figures, and the entire offense was flowing.
Gaffney’s Resilience – The Indians could have rolled over and easily lost by 20 points at multiple different times in the game. They did not score until the 3:30 mark in the first quarter of play. They trailed at the end of every quarter, including by 15 at the end of the third quarter. However, Gaffney would never go away. The Indians cut the deficit to as small as five in the fourth quarter after their star sophomore Rickey Littlejohn scored all 10 of his points in the quarter. However, it was too little too late, and the Indians could never quite close the gap all the way. Nonetheless, I was extremely impressed with the way this young Gaffney team battled all night.
Defensive Intensity – Both of these teams were amped up to play some defense. The Vikings’ second-year Head Coach Zac Rich had to be pleased with the way his big men Aiden Olley and Brishawn Young played down low. There was a stretch in the second quarter where Olley and Young recorded blocks on four of seven defensive possessions. As always, Logan Norton was flying around getting steals in the backcourt for the Vikings as well. On the other side for the Indians, I was very impressed with the second quarter adjustments of second-year Head Coach Charles Blue. To begin the second quarter, the Indians started to deny the ball every time down on defense. It was an effort that began to produce some trips to the free throw line for Spartanburg but also generated some turnovers. The Indians went to full court pressure to begin the fourth quarter, and this helped contain Spartanburg’s transition opportunities and helped the Indians go on a 13-5 run. It was a fun cat & mouse game between two second-year head coaches who used to work together at Dorman High School.
What a Region – While at this game last night, I sat and thought about how great Region 2-5A really is. Obviously Byrnes and Dorman are two of the top teams, as they proved that on Tuesday night in the 72-71 game of the year which Byrnes came out victorious. However, these Indians and Vikings just have one region win a piece, but both has given Dorman all they can handle. I know the old saying is “You are as good as your record says you are.” However, this region has a lot of parity, and the Vikings & Indians are two really solid basketball teams. If one of them can catch fire as we progress through January into February, watch out.
