Dothan doesn’t mind ‘ugly’ victory over Abbeville

It was far from an artistic beauty, but the Dothan Tigers will take it.

Despite inconsistent shooting, 20 turnovers, 15 missed free throws and giving up 21 offensive rebounds, the Tigers did more than enough to down cold-shooting and foul-plagued Abbeville, taking a 77-57 win over the 3A second-ranked Yellow Jackets at Jon Davis Gym.

The win was Dothan’s ninth in 10 games after a 3-8 start.

“In the winning streak we are on, that is the way most of them have gone,” Dothan first-year head coach Bill Porter Jr. said. “They are not very pretty, but they are wins.”

Two strong spurts — one in the second quarter and one in the fourth quarter — carried Dothan (12-9). The Tigers outscored the Yellow Jackets 23-9 in the second quarter to build a 40-25 halftime lead, and turned in a 20-12 spurt in the final 5:40 to seal it after Abbeville made a run.

The Tigers hit 16-of-25 shots and made only five turnovers in the two stretches. The rest of the game, they were 12-of-34 shooting (35.3 percent), missing one uncontested fastbreak layup, with 15 turnovers.

While Dothan was inconsistent, Abbeville (15-6) consistently struggled. The Yellow Jackets hit only 31.1 percent from the floor (23-of-74), missing several uncontested fastbreak layups, and converted only half of their offensive rebounds, getting just 18 points off the 21 boards.

The Yellow Jackets were also hurt by 4-of-23 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

“We struggled a lot from the outside; that was the main thing,” Abbeville head coach Moses Knight said. “We couldn’t make the outside shot. They went to that 2-3 zone and forced us to shoot outside.

“We rushed a lot of shots, but that comes from playing behind.”

The Yellow Jackets were also whistled for 20 fouls — all but two resulting in Dothan foul shots — and had three players foul out. The Tigers went to the free throw line 35 times, but made only 20. Abbeville also struggled at the line, though it didn’t get near as many chances, making just 7-of-16.

It was a fast pace early, but also plenty of missed opportunities. The teams combined for 40 first-quarter shots, making just 14.

Abbeville led most of the quarter, but the Tigers wrestled the lead away late and went up 17-14 in the final 20 seconds on a Khiry Thomas layup.

At the start of the second quarter, Porter switched to the 2-3 zone and it stymied Abbeville. The Tigers also allowed few second chances in the quarter and caught fire offensively, consistently breaking Abbeville’s famed press.

The Tigers scored on six straight possessions in a 12-2 run to open the period, claiming a 29-16 advantage with 5:16 left. Stephen Trawick and Thomas had four points each in the run.

Dothan built the lead to as much as 16 in the quarter before settling for a 15-point bulge at halftime.

Abbeville closed the gap to 10 after the third quarter, then Dothan surged back up 15 in the first minute of the fourth quarter before the Jackets came swatting back.

Denzel Danzey converted an offensive putback and a steal into a fastbreak layup as part of a 5-0 run that made it 57-47 with 5:53 still left.

However, Dothan’s defense stepped up with two big plays to stem the tide.

Abbeville appeared to have a chance to cut it to eight following a steal by Quentin Newman, but Barnard McGhee intercepted Newman’s upcourt pass and raced the other way for a fastbreak layup.

Marsh then blocked a Danzey shot try at the top of the key and picked it up, starting a fastbreak layup for McGhee.

After a missed shot by Abbeville, Dothan’s Demarius Lewis earned a layup. Suddenly the margin was 16, 63-47, with 4:54 left, and Dothan was never threatened after that.

Trawick paced Dothan with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Thomas earned 20 points and eight rebounds. McGhee added 14 points and Lewis nine.

Tyler Spann led Abbeville with 12 points and eight rebounds. Brandon Salter earned 11 points. Chris Laster also had eight rebounds for the Jackets.

Dothan girls 56, Abbeville 27: Dothan seized control with a 9-0 run late in the second quarter and cruised to the win.

Dothan (14-3) had 10 players score, led by Charmaine Ward with 19 points.

Raven Grubbs led Abbeville (14-6) with nine.

Abbeville JV boys 86, Dothan 61: The Yellow Jackets had a balanced attack with five in double figures, led by Marcus Grimsley with 17.

Terrance Williams had 14, Cory Gochett 13 and Quin Sampson and Dez Brown had 11 each.

Todd Rolley had 14 to lead Dothan. Tim Crews added 11 and LaJarius Debose had 10.