A bad day in Byrnes
Minus 2 starters, Indians play Byrnes down to the wire
By LARRY HILLIARD Ledger Sports Editor larry@gaffneyledger.com

Ledger photo by LARRY HILLIARD Gaffney's Josh Corry had 24 points in a losing effort at Byrnes on Friday.

Gaffney had opportunities to win Friday's game at Byrnes - what the Indians needed was the firepower to finish it.

That likely was because two of the team's leading scorers, Jazz Palmer and Jeff Brown, were serving suspensions for flagrant technical fouls.

Trailing by as much as 12 points early in the fourth quarter, the Indians pulled within two but turned the ball over four times in the last four minutes in a 73-65 loss.

"It hurt not having those two," Gaffney coach Mark Huff said. "They score a combined 24 points for us."

Reserve Ty Dawkins, in particular, picked up the scoring slack with 13 points.

"He did a good job for us," Huff said.

Palmer will return for Tuesday's game against visiting Dorman. Brown won't return until Friday.

Robert Butler had a steal and bucket to close the deficit to 64-62. But the Indians wouldn't draw any closer as Riyahd Richardson had two free throws and Jason Logan scored the game's final four points for the margin of victory.

Gaffney's Josh Corry had 24 points, including five 3s. Bubba Wright had a key three to fuel Gaffney's comeback.

The Rebels led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter. They extended their cushion to 37-31 at the break. Byrnes went on a spurt to open up a double-digit lead before Gaffney rallied to make things interesting late in the fourth quarter.

"I'm very proud of my kids," Huff said. "They played very hard."

Logan and Nori Johnson each had 21 points to lead Byrnes.

Gaffney dropped its second straight region game to fall to 4-3. Hillcrest, which lost to Dorman on Friday, leads the region at 6-1. Spartanburg is second at 4-2. Gaffney and Byrnes each have 4-3 marks, but the Rebels hold the tiebreaker if the playoffs would begin now.

In girls' varsity action, the Lady Rebels pulled away in the second half to down the visiting Lady Indians, 65-42. Kierra Phillips had 18 to lead Gaffney, which falls to 7-8 overall and 2-5 in region play.

The Lady Rebels raced to a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Lady Indians went on a run to outscore Byrnes, 21-14, in the second quarter.

It was all Lady Rebels in the second half as they outscored Gaffney, 35-15.