Station Camp High’s boys basketball team trailed early in its season-opening contest against visiting Hunters Lane.
Station Camp High senior Hayden Baldwin dunks during second-quarter action. Baldwin scored 10 points.
Then, the 3-pointers started falling, and the Bison had little trouble with the Warriors the rest of the way, cruising to a 78-56 victory in a Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association Hall of Champions contest played on Tuesday evening.
Station Camp hit 11 3-pointers, with eight of them coming in the first half.
Senior Sawyer Taylor – playing in his first game since transferring from Beech during the offseason – made an immediate impact with six of those 3-pointers, resulting in a game-high 18 points.
“Really, that was our big men,” Taylor said. “When they got the ball in the post, they were looking to score, and if they got doubled down, they would kick it out. So, that resulted in me and Keaton (Dotson) being wide open.”
Five different Bison players finished in double figures. Junior Kody Eden tossed in 16 points, and seniors Dotson, Hayden Baldwin and Yalen Reed all finished with 10 points.
All of Reed’s output came in the third quarter, beginning with a dunk off of an alley-oop pass from junior Chase Freeman in the opening seconds of the second half.
Station Camp High senior Keaton Dotson drives past Hunters Lane defender Kendall Winston during third-quarter action. Dotson scored 10 points in the Bison’s 78-56 victory on Tuesday evening.
“He wasn’t open,” Station Camp head coach Seth Massey said of Reed. “I thought the guys did a really good job of finding the open man in the first half. They guarded Yalen well, and he didn’t have a shot. We found the guys we needed to find.”
The Bison trailed 5-0 and 8-6 before unleashing a 22-2 run over the final 5:20 of the first quarter to hold a 28-10 edge after eight minutes. The Bison hit six of their 3-pointers in the first quarter.
“(Taylor and Dotson) got some good looks tonight,” Massey said. “We were down 5-0 and we got hot.”
The Bison extended their lead to as much as 32 points (45-13) late in the second quarter before the Warriors scored 10 of the final 14 points of the first half.
“We’ve got a lot to work on though,” Massey said. “We’ve got things we need to work on defensively.”
An 11-3 run in the third quarter helped the Bison push their lead to 36 points (72-36), and the fourth quarter began with a continuously-running clock in effect due to the 35-point, mercy rule.
“I hated the running clock, because we had some guys that deserved to play,” Massey said. “I wanted to see those guys maybe get some more minutes, but anytime you can get (everybody) in, that’s good.”
The Warriors closed the gap somewhat, finishing the game on a 15-2 run.
“Hunters Lane played hard for four quarters,” Massey said. “They had a chance, in that run we made in the second half to just (give up), and they didn’t do it. They’re a well-coached team. They’ve got a young team, and they’re going to get better.”
Joseph Williams led the Warriors with 17 points, while Kendall Winston and Clint Overton added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Station Camp High junior Kody Eden elevates for a layin against Hunters Lane’s Clint Overton (14) during first-quarter action. Eden finished with 16 points in the Bison’s 78-56 victory.
It was certainly a good start for Taylor in his first game in a Bison uniform.
“(The transition’s) been relatively smooth,” Taylor said. “The guys have accepted me with open arms. I tried to come in as smoothly as possible. I didn’t want to try and come in and take over anything. The coaches here made it as easy as it could be.”
The Bison are scheduled to travel to Smith County on Saturday for a pair of Hall of Champions games against York Institute (at 4:30 p.m. at Smith County Middle School) and Smith County (at 7:30 p.m. at Smith County High School).
Station Camp will open the regular season on Tuesday at Rossview.
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.
HUNTERS LANE (56) – Joseph Williams 17, Kendall Winston 13, Clint Overton 10, Antonio Lennear 4, John Jackson 3, Anthony Farr 2, Aubrey Hardaway 2, Ravonte Murphy 2, Mitchell Randall 2, Sam Wreh 1.
STATION CAMP (78) – Sawyer Taylor 18, Kody Eden 16, Hayden Baldwin 10, Keaton Dotson 10, Yalen Reed 10, Jonathan Gillard 5, Peyton Anderson 4, Thomas Zazzaro 3, Matt Mathioweis 2.
Half: 49-23, Station Camp. Three-point goals: Hunters Lane 8 (Williams 5, Jackson 1, Overton 1, Winston 1), Station Camp 11 (Taylor 6, Dotson 2, Reed 2, Zazzaro 1). Records: Hunters Lane 0-1, Station Camp 1-0.