Dan River wears down Gretna 63-52

By MATT FUCHS
Register & Bee sports writer
Published: February 13, 2008

RINGGOLD - With one player sitting due to technical foul problems in previous games, and with another missing after a car accident the night before, time outs had become a precious commodity for Gretna coach Bob Locust.

It was a resource there never seemed to be enough of to keep his players’ legs fresh, as Locust’s Hawks wore down and lost to Dan River 63-52 on Tuesday. Gretna took to the court with only seven players in uniform - half as many as the Wildcats - and was without a pair of starters as well.

Guard Commillious Waller was forced to watch from the bench after a recent rash of technicals, and forward Tyon Bennett was also absent after a car accident on Monday. And while Gretna teammate Stephon Jennings said that Bennett was fine after the accident, it nonetheless left the remaining Hawks with a heavy load to pick up against an athletic Dan River team.

It was a feat the Gretna players almost accomplished too, until their legs could carry them no further.

“Seven is tough,” Locus said of his thinned-out roster. “Fifteen would be tough against (the Wildcats), but seven is especially tough. The kids played hard though.”

Unfortunately for Gretna (5-12, 2-9 Dogwood), hard was akin to fast and often reckless on Tuesday. And a turnover-filled start to the game led to a scoreless opening two minutes for both teams as they struggled to hit their stride.

The Hawks found their groove first, and jumped out to a 7-3 lead behind Jennings’ spin moves and up-tempo play. But while Locust did his best to burn timeouts at strategic intervals and give his kids a break, that quick pace began to wear on Gretna, and behind five first quarter points from Charles Warren (11 points, 10 rebounds on the night) the Wildcats recovered well enough to take a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.

“Tonight was more for the duration of the body,” Locust said. “We had to take our turnovers for water and rest. There’s a time you just need to stop so they can slow down and get a rest.”

With 14 players suited up for the game, Dan River (9-12, 5-6 Dogwood) didn’t have the same concerns. And it showed in the second quarter, as the Wildcats ripped off a 15-0 run midway through the period to go into halftime up 31-18.

Yet, despite the lead and despite his numbers advantage over the Hawks, Dan River coach Jacob Gruse still had his reservations heading into the second half.

“You can’t even look at it that way,” Gruse said of the Hawks’ shrunken roster. “Gretna has so many athletic kids, anything can happen with those kids.

“Those kids know how to win.”

It turned out that Gruse was right to have his concerns. Or at least for a while, anyway.

While Dan River struck first in the third quarter, the Hawks pushed right back with a pair of seven-point runs that closed the gap to 42-33 heading into the fourth. Jennings put up another eight points in the third to power Gretna’s revival, a part of his game-high 23 points, as the Hawks sought to find ways to attack the Dan River defense and move the Wildcats’ taller players out of the paint.

“We know they’ve got size,” Jennings said. “We were just trying to work on technique and strategy - the little things to beat them. But they’re good.”

Well that, and the Hawks just got worn out.

“It’s tough, because all of us need a break sometimes,” Jennings said. “We were trying to play hard even though we didn’t have that many guys.

“We’d get tired and not think sometimes.”

Those rundown legs and lapses in judgment got the best of the Hawks in the fourth, while Dan River stayed fresh, and pulled away on an 11-4 run that put the game out of reach for Gretna.

Contact Matt Fuchs at or (434) 791-7997.

Dan River 63, Gretna 52

Gretna (5-12, 2-9 Dogwood) - Calloway 5 0-0 12, Jennings 9 4-7 23, Dale 2 1-2 6, Witcher 5 0-0 11. Totals 21 5-9 52.

Dan River (9-12, 5-6 Dogwood) - Dickerson 4 0-0 10, Nash 1 0-0 3, D. White 5 1-2 12, Harris 1 1-2 3, Womack 2 0-0 4, Foster 4 3-3 11, Myers 1 1-1 3, Warren 5 1-4 11, Morton 2 2-5 6. Totals 25 9-17 63.

Gretna 11 7 15 19 - 52

Dan River 12 19 11 21 - 63

3-point goals: Gretna 4 (Calloway 2, Dale, Witcher), Dan River 4 (Dickerson 2, Nash, D. White).