Gaffney players ready to rumble in season opener against Cougars
By SCOTT POWELL Ledger Sports Writer spowell@gaffneyledger.com

Ledger photo by LARRY HILLIARD Gaffney center David Dewberry will be the tallest player on this year's basketball team.

Gaffney basketball coach Mark Huff will see a rare sight Friday when his team opens the season with a home game against York at 8 p.m.

This is the first time in several years Huff and his staff have had the luxury to work with their entire team before the basketball season starts. The Gaffney High football team lost a heartbreaking 23-22 game to Summerville last week that kept the school from making their third straight appearance in the state championship game.

Football players Robert Butler, Emison Hughes, Johnny Woods and 6'2 center David Dewberry, the team's tallest player, joined the basketball team following varsity tryouts on Monday. All are returning members from last year's 19-6 team that made it to the second round of the playoffs.

"I would like to see us win more games and advance farther in the playoffs," Huff said. "This is the smallest team I've coaches. We have a lot of good athletes and will rely on the uptempo, pressure defensive style that has been successful for us."

Gaffney will face a York team coming off a 30 point win over Indian Land. The Cougars has played three games this season while the Indians are playing their first game.

Huff will mix this year's returning players with three players off last year's undefeated junior varsity squad. Jeff Brown, Eddie Jeffries and Bubba Wright from the 20-0 jv squad are expected to join the football players in forming the nuclear of this year's basketball team.

Jazz Palmer, the team's top returning scorer, will not play against York for disciplinary reasons.

Chase Smith is out with a knee injury.

The starting lineup for today's season opener will be determined based on practice performance over the past several days, Huff said.

"We were a little lucky because the football players were able to return to the basketball team a week earlier than the past three years," Huff said. "It's a good thing for our team. I'm disappointed for the football players and coaches that their season ended. I would have liked to see them win another championship."

Huff believes the basketball team will improve as players get back into basketball shape and become more familiar with the new motion offense he implemented over the summer.

"It will take a few weeks for our players to get back into basketball shape. Right now we are doing a lot of reviewing from last year and a lot of running," Huff said. "We do have a lot of experience coming back. We are just excited to start the season."