Published: November 21, 2008 12:10 pm      

Donkeys stop Crusaders

Poor shooting dooms Lawton Christian

Lawton Christian never found a shot it didn’t like and as a result, it got a final score it really didn’t like.

The Bray-Doyle boys’ basketball team was lights out in the first quarter and never let up as it knocked off the mad bomber Crusaders 66-38 in its season opener. The Donkeys converted nine of its first 13 shots to take an 18-11 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

“We jumped out on them pretty good,” Bray-Doyle head coach Darian Dickson said. “I was pleased with our execution on the offensive end in the first quarter.

“I thought our intensity was better. We had good defensive awareness and we tried to confuse their offense. We had good communication and I was impressed with our leadership on the floor.”

The Donkeys were led in scoring by senior Ethan Cummings, who scored 24 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the field. Freshmen Cory Byford and Hayden Dickson added 17 and nine, respectively, as Bray-Doyle played a much more controlled offensive game than the older Lawton Christian team.

The tone for the game was set early as Bray-Doyle dominated inside with the tandem of Cummings and Byford. The Donkeys went to the outside in the second quarter as Dickson began to heat up beyond the arc.

The freshman guard missed his first two 3-point attempts of the game but found his mark, hitting three in the second quarter. Josh Turner added one of his own as Bray-Doyle extended its lead to 38-19 going into the half. Cummings would score 14 points in the second half to help the Donkeys put the game away. They would finish the night with a 59 percent shooting average.

As Crusaders’ defensive struggles extended into the second half, its offense did not get any better. After making six of its 34 attempts in the first half, Lawton Christian got inexplicably colder in the third, making one of its 11 shots.

The visitors did themselves little favor, continuing to throw up 3-pointers without success. The Crusaders would get off 65 shots in the game, making 12 for shooting percentage of 18 percent.

The extra shots were cause for concern for Dickson who was otherwise pleased with the way his team responded in its first game under his direction.

“I liked the patience on offense and I just naturally expect those things to happen because we work on it every day in practice,” Dickson said. “I noticed that we need to block out better and we need to pursue the ball.”

Dickson also noted that his team needed to contest every shot better.

Bray-Doyle will look to improve to 2-0 on the season Saturday night when it travels to Sterling.