Morristown West produced four double-digit scorers to help seniors Bereket Evans, Juan Gallardo and John Michael Rosen come out on top on Senior Night, defeating Campbell County 68-56 on Friday.
The trio has been paramount in changing the narrative around West High basketball, transforming it from a 6-22 team in head coach Joe Dobyns69制片厂制作传媒 first year to a team that was a game away from State a year ago.
69制片厂制作传媒淚 was proud of the seniors,69制片厂制作传媒 Dobyns said. 69制片厂制作传媒淚 was proud of the team to come in and try to help those guys go out with a win. They've meant a lot to the program. They've changed the perception of the program. And that's something that we really talked about. I've never coached a game here without Bereket or Juan, and John's been here three years. So they've meant a lot to me. They've meant a lot to the program, and they've really helped change the perception and get things going in the right direction. I'm really proud of them, and I appreciate them for that.69制片厂制作传媒
Every coach takes over a program with goals of turning it around. However, that can69制片厂制作传媒檛 happen without the right players to take the leadership reins and help change the culture.听
Evans, Gallardo and Rosen have done exactly that.
69制片厂制作传媒淚 came in at the right time,69制片厂制作传媒 Dobyns said.
Evans (19) and Gallardo (10) combined for 19 while Rosen did his part on the glass.听
Not only did the seniors show out, but the rest of the team did their part to help them end their last guaranteed home game with a win.
Sophomores Jamere Williams added 11, and Jake Bunch had nine while junior Julian Sexton added another 10. Junior TJ Walthall also had seven. Those four stepped up in a big way with Will DesGrossiellers going down early with some upper body discomfort.
69制片厂制作传媒淭he guys look up to them to be leaders,69制片厂制作传媒 Dobyns said. 69制片厂制作传媒淭o see them want to want to play for them and want to help them go out on the right note was special to see. We69制片厂制作传媒檙e continuing to get better every day. We got to continue to fight and get better every single day that we're out here. I feel like we've, we've made those strides. We play a really tough schedule and I feel like that's helped us get prepared for this moment now that we're heading into (postseason).69制片厂制作传媒
Dobyns has been encouraged by what he69制片厂制作传媒檚 seen from his younger players all season.
69制片厂制作传媒淭hey've got a lot of game time experience throughout this year that's gonna help us in the future. We've had opportunities to get those guys experience and get them in games, and they're good players. They continue to mature physically and continue to mature in the basketball sense of playing in varsity games.69制片厂制作传媒
The Trojans finished with a 13-14 clip on the year.
West started slow but quickly found a rhythm despite an early 7-0 deficit.
Williams put in a finger roll to get the scoring started, while Evans was able to get a pair of fast break buckets to respond with a 10-0 run.
The two sides traded leads before the Cougars ended the first up 16-14.
Sexton opened the second quarter with a tying layup, and Bunch helped West retake an 18-16 lead before Sexton made it 20-18.
Evans then drilled a three to give West a five-point lead.
Campbell County cut it back to 23-21, but Sexton hit a layup sandwiched between a pair of Gallardo buckets to give the Trojans a 29-23 lead to end the first half.
Williams opened the third with a free throw before West slipped up a bit to help the Cougars back in the game. Campbell County went on an 8-0 run to retake a 31-30 lead.
However, another Gallardo jumper silenced the run, and Williams tipped in a shot off the rim to give the Trojans a 34-31 lead.听
Again, the sides traded leads before the Cougars entered the final frame with a 40-38 lead.
West exploded in the fourth quarter.
Bunch opened with a three before Campbell County retook a 42-41 lead 69制片厂制作传媒 its last of the night with seven minutes remaining.听
The Trojans began to pour in points from everywhere beginning with an Evans three-pointer. Bunch followed with a pair of free throws and Evans hit a layup to give West a 48-44 lead with 5:30 on the clock.
Wanting to prevent any late-game scares, the Trojans crushed the Cougars hopes as Evans drilled a three and kickstarted an 11-0 run over the course of two minutes, effectively putting the game out of reach at 59-44 in favor of West.
The Cougars never came closer than 12 points for the remainder of the game as West put the finishing touches on a 30-point fourth quarter.
The 3-seeded Trojans will travel to Jefferson County on Thursday to take on the 2-seeded Patriots in the District 2-4A tournament looking to secure a top-two seed for region play.
West split the season series 1-1 with each team winning at home.
69制片厂制作传媒淲e're gonna take a couple of days off the weekend after these games this week and rest a little bit try to get everybody healthy,69制片厂制作传媒 Dobyns said. 69制片厂制作传媒淎nd then Monday, we've got to come out focused and prepared and get ready to go for a battle on Thursday. We know that's going to be a tough, physical game, and we got to come out ready to go.69制片厂制作传媒澨
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