It’s been said plenty of times — there aren’t many rivalries on the local high school level that are as intense as the bad blood between the Dorman Cavaliers and the Spartanburg Vikings. No matter the sport or the differences in how their respective seasons may be going when these two meet, you can almost always count on a dramatic and entertaining battle and the return game of this year’s City Rivalry on the hardwoods was no exception.
Two weeks ago at Spartanburg’s Viking Arena, the Cavaliers held on for a 63-59 victory in a contest that came down to the wire. Friday night’s game looked like it was going to be a near mirror image from the opening tip.
Neither side could muster much offense in the early going with physical defense affecting the efforts in the paint. Dorman was able to ride the sheer height advantage of Will Bush — without whom the story of this game would be very different, to some big baskets to build an early lead. Bush accounted for 6 of the Cavs’ first quarter points, and coupled with Jaden Johnson, who made two huge three pointers in the waning seconds, helped Dorman take an 18-12 lead to the 2nd quarter.
Bush once again did his part to help keep the Cavs in it over the second stanza, but the story of the night took its first dramatic swing with the Vikings going on a 10-2 run spanning the first 4 and a half minutes of the period, seven of which came from junior center/power forward Brishawn Young. The game devolved into a back and forth from that point, but Spartanburg was able to balance the scale heading to the half in a 31-all deadlock.
The Vikes kept the momentum going in the third quarter, outdueling Dorman 16-14 behind a combined 10 points from senior shooting Guard Johnston Abrams and junior Skylar Douglas to take a 47-43 lead into the fateful final eight minutes.
After continuing to trade baskets, the game finally took what would be its final momentum swing when Johnson drew a flagrant foul about 2 minutes in. After a lot of intense debate and emotional exchanges on the court while the officials sorted things out, Jaden went to the line and split the free throws. With the foul, the Cavaliers were given the ball and immediately turned it into a three point swing with a basket from Johnson that was the spark of a 9-0 Dorman run.
That Cavalier rally was finally broken by a big three from senior guard Dylan Harris, briefly pulling the Vikings back within 2 possessions. But after that, Johnson took over the game. In a Michael Jordanesque “And I took that personally” type of effort, Johnson exploded for 8 more points in the frame, eventually finishing as Dorman’s leading scorer with 26. His performance paired with a career high 25 from Bush was enough to propel the Cavaliers to a sweep of the rivalry series and a 67-60 victory.
“I thought we showed some real toughness”, said Dorman Head Coach Thomas Ryan after the win. “We were down four going into the fourth. We had not practiced for a week. But our guys just believed in what we do and made the plays that we needed. Jaden Johnson has been incredible scoring all year. We come to expect big games from him. But when the game was on the line, we isolated him and he made some big baskets. Will Bush was also big for us tonight with 25 points tonight and he made some big plays and took a key charge in the 4th quarter. What a game for him.”
Dorman had one other score in doubles figures – junior forward Luke Henry with 10 points. On the other end of the floor, Spartanburg had four standout performers. The Vikings were led by senior shooting guard Johnston Abrams with 17 points. He was complemented by Harris with 14 while Young and senior point guard Zeke Bell-Boyd tallied 7 each.
With the sweep of this season’s rivalry series secured, the Cavaliers will focus on closing out the region championship with a big week. Dorman, now sitting at 16-5 overall and 7-2 in region II-5A has a road game at Gaffney this Tuesday night barring another weather postponement and then will close host Byrnes on Friday night in the de facto region championship game.
Spartanburg (12-9, 4-5 region) will travel to Byrnes on Tuesday night barring any effects from the oncoming snowstorm before wrapping up the week with a home game against the Gaffney Indians.
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