Dibrell boys pull away after halftime; advance
Third-seeded Dibrell and the No. 6-seeded Irving College Tigers opened the boys half of the Warren County Elementary Basketball Association tournament Monday night in the Charlie Dalton Gym. Dibrell advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 46-31 win over the Tigers.
The Tigers’ game plan was to kick the ball down inside to Brently Panter and let Darrid Wells drive the lane. The plan worked as Wells and Panter combined for eight of the Tigers’ 10 points in the opening period for a 10-6 lead.
Dibrell countered with Ryan Daniel in the second period, who hit for nine of the Wildcats’ 14 points in the quarter. Ethan Grider gave his Tigers a 14-12 lead with three minutes left in the half, but Justin Wanamaker tied the game for Dibrell at 14-14. Daniel took over the last two minutes of the game for Dibrell as the Wildcats held a 20-18 lead at the half.
In the third period Dibrell turned up the defensive pressure causing several turnovers by the Tigers. Irving College hit for six points in the period as Dibrell started to expand its lead. Zackery Greene had a big third period for Dibrell, hitting for eight points including a 3-pointer as the Wildcats took a 35-24 lead into the final period.
Wanamaker opened the fourth period with a 3-pointer for the Wildcats. Irving College went on a scoring drought with just four points in the first three minutes of play. Dibrell ran off six straight points over the final two minutes of play holding a 46-28 lead. Cody Loggins fired a 3 with 15 seconds left in the game as the Tigers continued to fight, but the effort was too late to pull off the comeback.
For the Wildcats, Daniel led with 19 points, Greene hit for 10, Justin Dupree had seven, Wanamaker added five points, Derek Mikkola had four and Michael Stevans had one point.
For the Tigers, Panter led with nine points, Grider and Wells had eight points each. Justin Bouldin and Loggins added three points each.