Dominant Dorman dashes Dutch Fork’s title dreams
Dutch Fork coach Bret Jones talked in his pre-game speech about ‘slaying the giant.”
The giant, known as Dorman basketball, had other ideas.
The Cavaliers continued one of the more dominant runs in South Carolina history with a 65-46 victory over the Silver Foxes on Friday to win the Class 5A state championship at Colonial Life Arena.
“It was a heck of a run to get here. Undersized, but our heart was big,” Jones said. “We were fighters; our seniors were fighters. We didn’t give up all night or at halftime.”
Dutch Fork was making its second state title game appearance, the last coming in 2002. The Silver Foxes surprised some by making their way through the lower state and into the title game.
But the Silver Foxes never got on track Friday against the Cavaliers, who scored the game’s first 11 points and led 37-15 at halftime.
Dutch Fork played better in the second half, but it was too much to overcome against the nationally-ranked Cavaliers.
“Their size got us. We couldn’t duplicate their size. I’m a little too old to play (Dorman forward) PJ Hall’s role,” Jones said. “It was a great four months, with football players coming out and getting the puzzle together was so satisfying. We played really good basketball for the last five or six games. Even against Dorman, we didn’t play bad. They are just huge.”
It was Dorman’s fourth straight title, tying it with Calhoun County (2006-09) for most consecutive titles in the modern era. Columbia won five from 1916-20 and Charleston won six straight from 1922-27.
Dorman ends the season 30-1, its lone loss to nationally-ranked Oak Hill. The Cavs will play in the GEICO Nationals, featuring eight of the country’s top high school teams, next month in New York.
Ranked No. 2 in ESPN and No. 3 by MaxPreps, Dorman captured two prestigious tournaments this season, winning the Chick-fil-A Classic in Columbia at Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach.
“The championship was the goal. Anything else would have been a bust. I hate to say that,” said Dorman coach Thomas Ryan, a former Lexington High standout. “For them to work this hard, play a national schedule and then come back in-state and do night in and night out what you have to do is special.”
Seniors PJ Hall and Myles Tate, cornerstones of this Dorman run, led the way Friday night. Tate, the school’s all-time leading scorer, finished with 17 points. The Butler signee has been a part of all four title teams.
Hall, the Clemson signee, scored 16 points and added 12 rebounds, including a one-handed slam. Both players got curtain calls as they exited the game late in the fourth quarter with Ryan there to greet them when they came off the floor.
“I was holding back tears,” Hall said. “It has been really special at Dorman — ninth grade playing junior varsity and then coming up and working for my spot and watching Myles develop. All these emotions went through me I didn’t think would come. It was special.”
Jarvis Green led Dutch Fork with 12 points.
D: Justin Amadi 10, PJ Hall 16, Renwick 3, Jalen Breazeale 11, Myles Tate 17, Staggs 4, Surratt 2, Burgess 2. DF: Jarvis Green 12, McClurkin 8, Johnson 9, Knight 7, Snipe-Campbell 2, Washington 6, Danley 2.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 10:31 PM.
