Dan River boys pull away from Chatham late

By DREW WILSON
Danville Register & Bee
Published: February 20, 2008

RINGGOLD - R.J. Myers came off the bench to score 14 points in the second half and key a Dan River run that helped the Wildcats beat Chatham 74-57 in the Dogwood District tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

Dan River (10-13), which trailed by two points at halftime, had two of its post players get in foul trouble early in the third quarter. Coach Jacob Gruse went to Myers, and the sophomore forward didn’t disappoint. On back-to-back possessions, Myers converted two three-point plays to give Dan River its first real cushion of the night, a 38-31 lead.

“He’s about 6-foot, but he plays like a 7-foot kid that’s 350 pounds and solid as a rock,” Gruse said of Myers.

The Wildcats’ lead grew to nine, but Chatham countered with six straight points by Purcell Kelly to close the gap to 44-42 by the end of the third quarter. The run, however, was short lived. Dan River outscored Chatham 30-15 in the final quarter to pull away.

“Our guys really stepped up and played well,” Gruse said. “We tried to come out in the second half and play really aggressive basketball. I felt (Chatham) outplayed us (in the first half) on hustle plays and desire alone. Our guys really came out and proved that we wanted the basketball game more.”

Dan River’s Darren White led all scorers with 24 points, including several big dunks.

“He had a couple big dunks that got momentum back on our side and we just took it and ran with it,” Gruse said.

Charles Warren added 14 points and Markcus Foster scored 12.

Chatham (9-12) led after the first and second quarters, and its zone defense gave Dan River some trouble early.

“It was just Dan River’s night tonight,” Chatham coach Barry Mayo said. “We just didn’t get it done.”

Kelly led all Cavaliers with 21 points and Chris Harbin scored 13 off the bench.

Dan River advances to face Nelson County in Lovingston on Thursday at 7 p.m. Appomattox plays at Altavista in the other semifinal Thursday.

Contact Drew Wilson at or (434) 791-7995.

Dan River 74, Chatham 57

Chatham (9-12) - Doss 0 0-3 0, Witcher 1 0-0 2, Dixon 4 1-2 9, Kelly 10 0-0 21, Fuller 2 2-4 6, Bradner 0 0-4 0, Craft 1 1-2 4, Fuller 0 0-0 0, Murphy 0 0-0 0, Harbin 6 0-1 13, Thornton 0 0-1 0, Wimbush 1 0-0 2, Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 4-17 57.

Dan River (10-13) - Nash 3 1-2 7, White 9 5-6 24, Harris 0 0-0 0, Foster 4 3-4 12, Warren 1 12-17 14, Dickerson 0 0-0 0, Simms 0 0-0 0, Womack 1 1-6 3, Murphy 0 0-0 0, Myers 5 4-5 14, Morton 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-2 0. Totals 23 25-44 74.

Chatham 12 14 16 15 - 57

Dan River 11 13 20 30 - 74

3-point-goals - Chatham 3 (Craft, Kelly, Harbin), Dan River 2 (White, Foster). Fouled out - Fuller.