HENDERSONVILLE The Beech High School boys basketball team played without one of its top players on Friday evening but managed to overcome that thanks in part to the play of sophomore point guard Ty Dean.
Dean poured in a game-high 18 points as the Buccaneers held off a furious rally from visiting Gallatin in a 57-54 victory.
Beech High sophomore point guard Ty Dean elevates to shoot a first-quarter jump shot over Gallatin sophomore Zyun Mason. Dean scored a career-high 18 points in the Buccaneers’ 57-54 win on Friday evening.
“My teammates opened up the floor for me,” Dean said. “Aggressiveness is something I have been worrying about. Last year, I was passive.”
Dean played 31 minutes on Friday and made 10 of 13 free-throw attempts, in addition to four field goals on drives into the lane.
“He’s obviously young,” Beech head coach Darrin Joines said. “He makes mistakes, but he’s getting better. He seems to be calm under pressure.”
The Buccaneers dropped their previous two district contests, a 62-51 loss to visiting Station Camp and Tuesday’s 60-49 setback to visiting Wilson Central. Buhrow suffered a concussion in Tuesday’s game, forcing him to miss Friday’s contest.
“We need this a lot,” Joines said. “It’s a long season, and you don’t have to win them all … but it does impact your psyche.”
Beech (5-3 overall, 1-2 in District 9-AAA) never trailed as early baskets by senior forwards Caleb Walton and Noah Chatman were followed by Dean’s pull-up jump shot, resulting in a 7-0 lead.
Beech High sophomore guard Nelson Smith dribbles to the basket during first-quarter action as Gallatin junior Nigel Black defends. Smith scored three points.
The margin was 26-21 at halftime, but it quickly extended as a series of Green Wave turnovers helped the Buccaneers score the first nine points of the second half.
“It was turnovers, empty possessions, and (Dean) whipped us on (dribble) penetration,” Gallatin head coach Bobby Luna said. “He played well. Give him credit. He’s getting better for Darrin. He broke us down and got us in a scramble.
“We have to get better guard play on the defensive end.”
The margin swelled to 16 points on Walton’s basket just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter, and it was still at 14 points with less than five minutes remaining.
However, Gallatin (1-8, 1-2) stormed back as junior guard Marlon Mitchell scored seven consecutive points for his squad to cut the lead to single figures with 4:11 remaining.
Beech made just 18 of 33 free throws, aiding the Green Wave comeback.
Gallatin sophomore guard Zyun Mason made a pair of 3-pointers over the final 74 seconds, and classmate Collin Minor also sank one.
Gallatin High junior guard Nigel Black is fouled by Beech senior Caleb Walton while elevating for a second-quarter shot. Black scored a team-high 13 points.
Zyun Mason was fouled on a desperation heave from the right corner with 9.2 seconds left and made all three free throws, creating a two-point margin.
“We made some stupid mistakes at the end,” Dean said. “They fought hard. We fought hard, but we had some silly fouls.”
After Walton made one of two free throws at the other end of the court, the Green Wave’s 3-pointer in the final seconds was off target, allowing the Buccaneers to hold on.
“This team is willing to scrap and fight,” Luna said. “Unfortunately, we continue to talk about knocking on the door (coming close to winning before dropping close games). So, we are walking away disappointed.
“There was fight. There was no quit. We just need to eliminate individual mistakes. When you have three guys making three mistakes apiece, it’s not a lot individually. Collectively though, it’s a lot. We have to play well to win. We can’t say we played well. We only played well for about four minutes.”
Chatman and Walton backed Dean’s offensive production with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Green Wave junior guard Nigel Black scored a team-best 13 points, and Mitchell finished with 11 points. Both Jordan Mason and Zyun Mason provided nine points each.
Gallatin High junior forward Jordan Mason (30) grabs a second-quarter rebound in front of Beech sophomore A.J. Robertson. Mason scored six of his nine points in the second half.
“It was real big (to win),” Dean said. “Coming off of two losses where we didn’t play well, this week, we talked about, ‘let’s go get it. Let’s keep fighting.’ This was real big. We know teams are going to come out strong in district games. We came out strong too.”
Gallatin hosts White House on Monday.
Beech hosts Springfield on Tuesday.
Reach Craig Harris at charris@mtcngroup.com or at 615-575-7138. Follow him on Twitter @HarrisGNESports.
GALLATIN (54) – Nigel Black 13, Marlon Mitchell 11, Jordan Mason 9, Zyun Mason 9, Collin Minor 8, Dakota Bailey 4.
BEECH (57) – Ty Dean 18, Noah Chatman 16, Caleb Walton 14, A.J. Robertson 3, Nelson Smith 3, T.J. Downing 2, Heath Pentecost 1.
Half: 26-21, Beech. Three-point goals: Gallatin 6 (Z. Mason 2, Minor 2, Black 1, Mitchell 1), Beech 1 (Robertson 1). Records: Gallatin 1-8 overall, 1-2 in District 9-AAA; Beech 5-3, 1-2.