BLOUNTVILLE — The pieces are coming together.
Behind a dazzling 31 points from senior point guard Dante Oliver, the Dobyns-Bennett boys basketball team rolled to its sixth consecutive win, dominating Big 5 Conference rival West Ridge 86-60 on Tuesday.
The defending state champion Indians (14-8, 5-0) shot 31-for-64 from the field and blitzed the Wolves to start both halves. D-B scored the first 17 of the game’s 19 points and started the third quarter on a 12-0 run.
“Our team is still trying to figure itself out,” said D-B coach Chris Poore, whose team had just nine turnovers. “It’s nice to get wins and look like we did at times. Dante got to see the ball go in the hole is a really good sign.
“His defensive effort along with his presence on the glass doesn’t change whether he’s scoring or not. He impacts the game and now he’s getting into a flow offensively.”
Oliver — a lanky 6-foot-5 East Tennessee State signee — was an efficient 10-for-18 from the field and made 7 of 8 free throws.
Jonavan Gillespie chipped in 17 and fellow guard Brady Stump 14 for the Tribe.
“They really got us in the beginning of the game and in the beginning of the second half,” West Ridge coach John Dyer said. “I felt like in the first four minutes of the game that we didn’t play with any confidence and (D-B) played great. With (Oliver) and the two guards that are already outstanding, they’re a really good basketball team.”
The Wolves (14-9, 2-3) fought an uphill battle almost from the start, shooting 5-for-14 to open the game. D-B made 10 of 18 field goals in the first quarter.
Wade Witcher led West Ridge with 17 points, and Trey Frazier and Dawson Arnold each had 11. Arnold had only three through the first three quarters.
“Dawson is good when he catches it,” Poore said. “We limited his touches and I thought we did a phenomenal job early on Wade, but he got in a little bit of rhythm late.”
The Wolves shot 22-for-58 for the game but committed 15 turnovers, many in the opening period.
The Indians seemingly have hit their stride, scoring 80 points in consecutive games and staying unbeaten in the new year.
“I can see flashes,” Poore said. “I can see things are starting to come together and our guys are starting to understand roles and responsibilities. They’re starting to understand how we’re going to get there and they know we have good pieces.
“I feel like our guys are starting to execute and put all the pieces together.”
LADY WOLVES GET SWEEP
West Ridge’s girls went to the inside game late and it turned out to be the right move.
The Lady Wolves (13-12, 3-2) won 46-35 for their first season sweep of the Lady Indians. Alexis Hood scored 13 points and Fallon Taylor and Lillian Bates had nine apiece in the win.
“We started the game going to our bigs and we ended it that way,” West Ridge coach Kristi Walling said. “Our bigs did a phenomenal job. We have to limit everyone to one shot.
“Last year, D-B beat us three times, so it feels good to get these seniors these two wins.”
The Lady Indians (7-16, 0-5) got back into the game midway through the third quarter thanks to 11 straight points from Allison Salyer. Salyer finished with a team-high 13 and Hannah Frye added 10.
“We tried to front them and get backside help and I thought we did a good job of that for the most part,” D-B coach Bill Francis said. “There’s a fine line for us where we have to keep games within one or two possessions. If it stretches out, we have a hard time scoring and the game gets away from us.”