Griffins top Dunham to finish weekend undefeated

The Dunham Tigers kept making runs, but Dutchtown had an answer every single time.

They used their depth, solid defense and toughness in the paint to withstand the Tiger surges and pull away with a 62-44 victory in a tournament at East Iberville High over the weekend.

"We knew they were going to make runs. They're a talented group. One thing that was in our favor is that they don't go deep," Griffin head coach Patrick Hill said. "They only go one person into their bench. Watching them the night before, you know they have spurtability but could they withstand it because they only play five guys?"

Dutchtown came into the Friday night matchup fresh off of an easy 56-38 win over Brusly in day one. However, they fell behind Dunham early after a hot start for the Tigers.

Dunham exploded off the blocks with a 6-0 run, but the Griffins were right there to answer with an 11-0 run of their own to take a five-point lead. Patrick Thompson led the charge with six.

In the second quarter, Christian Thompson heated up for Dutchtown and drilled two 3-pointers. The two treys ballooned the Griffin lead to 10 and by the time their 9-0 run was complete, they held the biggest advantage of the game at 23-11.

Dunham hung tough and didn't allow things to get away from them. They headed into the half down 29-19.

At the break, Christian Thompson had 13, and Quinton Thomas had 11 of the Tigers' 19 points.

To start the third quarter, Dunham put another run together when Matt Williams converted two quick buckets to cut the deficit to six.

Later, Thomas made an amazing one-handed catch and dunk on an alley-oop on the Tigers' inbounds play. Altogether, an 11-4 Dunham run cut Dutchtown's lead to just five.

But once again, the Griffins answered. They rattled off a 6-2 spurt of their own to stretch the lead back to 10, and they clung to a 43-36 advantage heading into the fourth.

From there, it was all Dutchtown. The Griffins played stout perimeter defense and dominated in the paint offensively.

They spent most of the final period on the free-throw line after drawing fouls while going for inside buckets.

And on the other end of the floor, the Tigers fired away from 3-point range in a desperate attempt to get back in the game, but none of the shots would fall for them.

"The (Quinton) Thomas kid is a phenomenal athlete; they all can shoot it. They got their feet set, and it looked good coming out of their hands; it just wouldn't fall," Hill said. "You just have to think that they were a little fatigued having played Port Allen the night before."

The Griffins took full advantage and ran away with the 62-44 victory.

In the loss, Thomas was far and away Dunham's most dangerous weapon. He scored 24 of the Tigers' 44 points. Williams chipped in with 10.

As for Dutchtown, they were much more balanced. With their most consistent scorer Leonard Scott sidelined with an arm injury, the Griffins saw four players score in double-figures against Dunham.

Patrick Thompson led the way with 17, and Christian Thompson, Tevin Thompson and Nick Whalen all had 13 apiece.

The Griffins let the strong play continue the next day as they beat St. James 62-52 to finish the weekend's tournament a perfect 3-0.

"Considering the circumstances, I've been pleased," Hill said. "There have been some times where we didn't take shots in rhythm but for the most part, we did on offense and on defense, we were there to help one another when we did get beat."

The three tournament wins brought Dutchtown's winning streak to six, and it upped their overall record to 8-1.