IS AN ACTIVE PLAYER ON BOTH
OFFENSE AND DEFENSE.
EMBREE DOTSON PACES PURPLES WITH 14 POINTS; MADDIE DAVENPORT, BGHS GIRLS ROLL TO 62-34 VICTORY
GLASGOW — Bowling Green High School’s boys basketball team remains a work in progress.
But the Purples were already hip to the fact that defense brings hard-earned victories.
Particularly in December.
Junior guard Arlando Davis, one of the front-line Purples players who didn’t join the team until Thanksgiving Eve, delivered a critical blocked shot to seal Bowling Green’s gritty 63-61 victory over the talented Glasgow Scotties on Friday night in the GHS Gymnasium.
Bowling Green’s Braylon Anderson split on a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left in regulation before Glasgow used a timeout to set up one final play to win the game on a 3-pointer or force an overtime with a field goal closer to the basket. Jarrick Martin, Glasgow’s 6-foot-3, 200-pound power forward, came up with the rebound on the second attempt and the Scotties used a timeout themselves with 2.5 seconds to play, before setting up a full-court play to tip the scales in their favor.
It came within an eyelash of working.
OF LEAD CHANGES BETWEEN
BOWLING GREEN AND GLASGOW.
SCORES IN THE GAME’s FINAL MINUTE.
GIVES THE PURPLES QUICKNESS OFF THE BENCH.
SCORES INSIDE IN THE SECOND HALF.
A THIRD-QUARTER OUTSIDE SHOT FROM
THE PURPLES’ HUDSON AIKINS.
LED THE SCOTTIES WITH 18 POINTS.
The Scotties needed two quick passes to get the ball to senior guard Jeremiah Moore on the right wing, and Moore got a good look at the basket before letting a 3-point attempt out of his hands.
It didn’t get far.
Bowling Green’s Arlando Davis blocked the shot, keeping his distance from Moore but anticipating his shooting motion, and the Purples could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Glasgow and Bowling Green had a series of lead changes before the Scotties’ Trevis Collor, a 6-foot-1 freshman, scored to tie the game at 60 in the final minute.
Bowling Green’s Braylon Anderson answered with an inside basket, before adding the critical free throw with 4.7 seconds left, before Davis sealed the deal with a spectacular defensive play.
“We didn’t back down, from the moment,” Davis said. “I just tried to play aggressive … We’re learning, every day.”
That’s music to the ears of veteran BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill, whose team improved to 2-1 overall heading into Saturday’s showcase game against Florida Coastal Prep, a private school in Fort Walton, Florida, in the Toyota of Hopkinsville Classic. The Purples, last year’s KHSAA Sweet 16 runner-up, don’t have another home game until January 3, one day after they open district play against arch-rival Warren Central on the Dragons’ home court.
“We’re still trying to figure it out, who we really are, what’s our identity,” Sherrill said. “We’re such a young team, we’re still doing some experimenting, with a long bench … In the closing minutes, we were aggressive, defensively, and you always like to see that.”
A POTENTIAL GAME-WINNING SHOT
FROM 3-POINT LAND IN THE FINAL SECONDS …
DELIVERED A GAME-SAVING BLOCKED SHOT …
… AND COACH D.G. SHERRILL WAS INTERVIEWED
BY JOE BRUNK OF THE SPORTING TIMES.
THE PURPLES TO LAST YEAR’s
KHSAA SWEET 16 TITLE GAME.
Embree Dotson, a 5-foot-11 BGHS junior, plays a lot more like a front-line player. He led the Purples with 14 points. Purples teamates Braylon Anderson, a junior, and Hudson Aikins, a sophomore, each finished the game with 12 points, and Anthony Davis, the 6-foot-4 BGHS freshman, added 11.
Davis just finished his first season as the Purples’ starting quarterback, and the 14-year-old forward admits the last few months have felt like a whirlwind.
“I’m not really sure how to describe it,” Davis said. “It was like a blur … We need to rebound better, we need better help-side defense …”
For the Purples, that was a familiar theme on this frigid night in Barren County.
“We’re just looking to get better, every day,” Aikins said.
“We need to play faster, use our quickness,” Davis admitted.
Glasgow dropped to 1-2 overall, heading into Saturday evening’s showcase game against North Hardin High School in the Don Franklin Auto/Barren Hoops Classic at crosstown Barren County High School. The game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. (CST) start.
ARE PLAYING IN HOPKINSVILLE ON SATURDAY NIGHT.
IS A TOP-FLIGHT DEFENSIVE BACK, TOO.
IS A TOUGH, VERSATILE PLAYER.
BLOCKS A SECOND-HALF SHOT.
FINISHED THE GAME WITH 12 POINTS.
LINES UP AN OPEN 3-POINT SHOT.
IN PROGRESS, BUT THEY’RE
A PROMISING TEAM.
Glasgow coach Brandon Stockton was Kentucky’s “Mr. Basketball” in 2002, before spending four years as a backup guard for former coach Tubby Smith at the University of Kentucky. Stockton, in his second year as the Scotties’ head coach, has a young roster himself, but Glasgow has a proven star in 6-foot-3 forward Jerrick Martin, who is planning to attend Missouri State University on a football scholarship.
Unless …
“Well, Coach (Ryan) Beard is moving on to Coastal Carolina, so I think Jerrick is evaluating his options,” Stockton said. “I think we played well enough to win tonight, but we gave up some easy baskets in the second half. We missed some big free throws …
“Bowling Green, they’re young, but they’re only going to get better. D.G. Sherrill is a legendary coach in the 4th Region, and you know he’s going to have his guys ready to play when everybody starts playing district games.”
Martin led the Scotties with 18 points, twice bringing the home crowd to its feet with rim-rattling dunks in transition. Jaylen Bradley, another Glasgow football/basketball standout, had 16 points, providing a threat from the 3-point line. And Glasgow’s Jeremiah Moore, who also plays football, finished the game with 12 points.
“We’ve got to guard the ‘straight-line’ drive a lot better,” Sherrill said. “That’s what Jerrick does so well for them … We fouled too much tonight. We’ve got to do a better job of keeping our hands off them.”
Sherrill and Stockton are both ‘hands-on’ coaches, so time will tell what kinds of seasons they have in front of them.
FINISHED THE GAME WITH 16 POINTS.
PROMISING COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROSPECT.
HIGH PRAISE FOR BGHS COACH D.G. SHERRILL
AFTER FRIDAY NIGHT’s GAME IN GLASGOW.
IS AN EXPERIENCED HAND IN THE BACKCOURT.
GRABS A SECOND-HALF REBOUND.
WITH ALLEN-COUNTY SCOTTSVILLE
ON SATURDAY NIGHT AT BGHS.
OVERPOWERS THE LADY SCOTTIES INSIDE.
BOWLING GREEN GIRLS 62, GLASGOW 34
Bowling Green’s Maddie Davenport, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, led the Lady Purples with 14 points, and veteran BGHS coach Calvin Head used an extensive bench to keep Glasgow at arm’s length in the second half.
And then some.
“We played pretty well defensively,” Davenport said. “On offense, we looked to drive it, or go inside to our bigs …”
Like 6-foot-2 BGHS senior Aniyah Smith, whose post presence often sends opponents toward the perimeter, looking for a shot.
“When Aniyah’s engaged, it creates opportunities,” Head said after the game. “She’s really improved. Maddie’s growing. She’s one of our team captains. She’s coachable, she’s a winner.
“In spurts, we played pretty good defense. Now, we’ve got to get ready to play a very good Allen County-Scottsville team at our place.”
Bowling Green’s Aniyah Smith scored 12 points and was a dominant defender inside. Amaya Brown, an eighth grader, added 11 points for the Lady Purples, while teammate Kymber Graves, another eighth grader, finished with eight.
LED THE LADY PURPLES WITH 14 POINTS.
IN SOPHOMORE KAYDENCE BURTON.
FINISHED THE GAME WITH 12 POINTS.
Bowling Green (3-1 overall) is playing host to the seven-game 4th Region State Farm Challenge, facing the Lady Patriots (also 3-1) in the final game of the night. It’s scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.
After that, the Lady Purples will have two more non-district games before opening KHSAA 14th District play on the road against Warren Central on January 2.
Jakylie Green, the Lady Scotties’ junior point guard, led Glasgow with 10 points.
PASSES THE BALL TO TEAMMATE SHAYNA PRATT.
MY COUSINS, THE DOTYs, ALL FOUR
OF THEM, SHINED BACK IN THE DAY …
PARENTS WERE VERY NICE.
DURING THE WEEKEND …