Hot shooting propels Indians

A torrid shooting night allowed Gaffney to beat Riverside 95-66 Thursday in the opening round of the Greer FCA Christmas Classic.

Josh Corry scored 23 points and Jazz Palmer had 18 points. They were among five Gaffney players that scored in double figures.

David Dewberry scored 14 points. Jeff Brown added 11 points and Emison Hughes had 10.

Clinging to a 33-30 lead with 2:42 left, Gaffney turned up the pressure on defense and played unselfish on offense to take a 42-35 halftime lead.

Both teams were hot from the perimeter in the first half.

Gaffney connected on seven 3- pointers while Riverside hit five from beyond the arc.

"This is the best we have shot the ball this year," Gaffney boys basketball coach Mark Huff said. "Riverside shot the ball well, too. I had talked to coaches from several teams and knew going into the game that Riverside had some really good outside shooters."

Riverside's Taylor Payne and Justin Madden did much of the damage from long range.

Payne paced the Warriors with 18 points. Madden had 13 points. Cameron Powell added 10 points.

Gaffney countered with a balanced scoring attack and pressure defense to pull away from Riverside.

Josh Corry hit a 3-pointer to give Gaffney a 58-43 lead with 1:10 left in the third quarter. Payne and Madden hit three pointers to end the period with their team trailing, 65-51.

Riverside pulled to 71-60 with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter. The Warriors could not pull any closer the rest of the game.

"I think our depth wore them down in the second half. We are fortunate to have good depth that allows us to play 11 players in every game," Huff said. "We did a good job of spreading the ball around and were able to get a lot of open shots."

Gaffney took advantage of turnovers and sloppy ballhanding by Riverside to extend their lead to as many as 29 points in the game's final moments.

Robert Butler teamed with Hughes on a give and go for a transition basket late in the fourth quarter. It was one of several fast breaks that highlighted the unselfish play of Gaffney players against Riverside..

"We had a pretty good practice Wednesday before the tournament," Huff said. "I have been coaching for 27 years, and I have never told a player to not shoot the ball. If there is an open shot, I expect a player to take it. I hope we can keep it up for the rest of the tournament."

Gaffney (9-0) will play Greer today at 7 p.m. in the second round of the Greer Christmas Classic.

Greer beat Spartanburg Christian Academy 72-62 in the nightcap of Thursday's action.

Each team will play at least three games.

The winner of the Gaffney-Greer game will advance to the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. The loser will play at 5:30 p.m.