Corry, Brown shine for Indians

Photo by LARRY HILLIARD Gaffney's Chase Smith drives the baseline during second-quarter action against Union County on Tuesday. Smith finished with 13 points in the Indians' 97-81 victory. The Union County Yellow Jackets may have the best player, but the Gaffney Indians had the better team on Tuesday.

Josh Corry had 26 points and Jeff Brown added 22 to lead the Indians to a 97-81 victory and a season sweep over visiting Union County and its standout big man, Devin Booker.

The Indians held Booker, a Clemson University signee, to 22 points. Booker had 38 points in the teams' first meeting. But the Indians paid more attention to Booker this time around.

"In the first game against Union County, we used our regular defense against him," Gaffney coach Mark Huff said. "This time we wanted to three-quarter or completely front him. But he still hurt us. He's just so big and athletic. Our guys worked hard against him. But like I told them, I can't make them 6-foot-7. But the important thing is that we won the game."

Thanks, in large part, to the performances of Corry and Brown. Corry had a big first quarter with a couple of 3-pointers to keep the Indians close after the Yellow Jackets opened the game on a 12-3 run. Brown's three-point play early in third quarter gave the Indians' their first lead of the game.

"(Corry and Brown) are returning starters with a lot of experience. They're our leaders," Huff said.

Surprisingly, the shorter Indians outrebounded the Yellow Jackets, 40-34. Despite Booker's intimidating inside presence, the Indians shot a solid 49 percent from the field.

The Indians got off to a poor start but fought back to trail 19-17 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Union County stretched its lead to 35-24 on Desmond Floyd's hoop. But the Indians went on a spurt to close within 49-46 at halftime.

Gaffney seized command early in the third quarter on a couple of hoops by Corry and Brown's two free throws to go up 58-51.

The Indians methodically increased their advantage in the fourth quarter until they led by as many as 20 points with 3:24 left in the game.

Gaffney (12-2) returns to region play on Friday against visiting Nation Ford.