Battery Creek boys knock off Wade Hampton in 2-A playoff opener

Battery Creek High School followed up a successful regular season with a positive start in the Class 2-A boys basketball playoffs Wednesday night, defeating Wade Hampton 50-33 in Burton.

Both teams struggled to find the basket throughout much of the game, but guards Adonis Williams and Markell Smalls kept Battery Creek composed in the first-round matchup, and the home team eventually pulled away in the fourth quarter. Smalls finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Williams added 11 points.

Timothy Ford and Isaiah Mayes controlled the glass for the Dolphins (20-6), combining for 23 rebounds. Ford had eight offensive boards.

“We did a better job of rebounding tonight than we have in a long time,” Battery Creek head coach Antoine Youmans said. “I felt like that was a big difference-maker for us.”

To me, that’s the key to winning,” Youmans added. “Shooting — I mean unless you’re talking about the Golden State Warriors — you can’t worry about that every game. You’ve got to do the other things, like rebound and scrap and get 50-50 basketballs. We did a lot of that tonight.”

Battery Creek advances to the second round, where it will host either Timberland (18-5) or Marion (10-10). Game time is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

Wade Hampton finishes the season at 9-9 overall. Deonte White had nine points to lead the Red Devils, and Stephon Brooker added eight.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 8:43 PM with the headline "Battery Creek boys knock off Wade Hampton in 2-A playoff opener."