GHS wide receiver Andy Strickland verbally committed to Wofford last week.

Gaffney’s Donald Sims shoots over two Dorman players during third-quarter action on Friday. Sims had 16 points to lead the Indians to the overtime victory.

Ledger Sports Editor

The 2-time defending state champion Gaffney Indians seized an opportunity this weekend to redeem themselves for a poor performance last Tuesday.

Donald Sims had 16 points and Nick Melton added 15 as the Indians handed Dorman its first defeat by rallying for a 72-66 victory in overtime Friday. Sims and Melton carried the scoring brunt on Saturday, combining for 36 points and eight three-pointers in the Indians’ lopsided 80-41 victory over visiting Union.

It was the second straight win for the Indians (4-1), who had their 23-game win streak snapped by Byrnes last Tuesday.

“Right now, we just want to be consistent,” Gaffney coach Mark Huff said. “In our first two games, we had just 25 turnovers. And then the next two games we had 54 (turnovers). That’s not being consistent.”

Against Union, the Indians were consistently sharp - committing just four first-half turnovers in building a 41-11 lead. Sims and Melton keyed a spurt with a couple of three-pointers and Malcolm Long added a basket to extend the Indians’ lead to 66-29 at the end of the third quarter.

“We played a pretty good ball game,” Huff said. “We shot the ball well. We just want our kids to continue to get better.”

While Saturday’s outcome was boringly predictable by halftime, Friday’s matchup with the Cavaliers was anything but.

Dorman erased a 12-point third quarter deficit to lead 58-52 on a layup by Shawn Creel with less than two minutes left in regulation. Gaffney then staged its own rally. Phillip Buckson scored to make it 61-60 with :13.2 remaining. Dorman’s Marcus Jackson was called for pushing off on the inbounds pass, sending Buckson to the line, where he made one of two free throws to put the game into overtime.

Creel hit a basket to give the Cavaliers a 66-65 lead but Blake Foster’s two free throws put the Indians up by a point with 1:47 left in the extra session. Dorman had a chance to take the lead but Kendrick Watson’s layup was wiped out when he was called for charging on the play.

Foster then hit two free throws to give the Indians a three-point bulge.

Gaffney made its free throws down the stretch for the final margin of victory.

The Indians led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter but the Cavaliers went on a run to lead by as many as 11 points in the second quarter. Sims had a couple of baskets and Long hit a close-in shot to pull the Indians within 32-30 at halftime.

Creel had 18 points and Watson and Jackson added 13 for the Cavaliers.

Gaffney, 4-1, will try to avenge its only defeat this season Tuesday at Byrnes.