Scoring machine glitches vs. Clarendon

CLARENDON 89, LAFAYETTE COUNTY 67

CARLISLE — Lafayette County guard Andreus Dedner appeared unstoppable during his first two games this week of the Class 2A boys state tournament at Carlisle High School.

Dedner was averaging 39.0 points per game, and Clarendon Coach Kendrick Hudson said there was no way one Lions player, or a den of Lions, could hold him down.

“We just wanted to make it hard on him,” Hudson said. “We took it as a team challenge.”

Challenge accepted. Clarendon (23-9) held Dedner to five points while building a five-point halftime lead, then pulled away for an 89-67 victory over the Cougars to advance to this weekend’s Class 2A boys final in Hot Springs.

Dedner ended up scoring 23 points, but 12 of those came on three-pointers late in the fourth quarter when Clarendon defenders gave him more room to roam.

“He took it personal,” Hudson said of point guard Brandon Bonner, who shadowed Dedner’s every move in the first half. “That’s the kind of kid he is.”

Bonner not only led the Lions defensively but he also scored 21 points, taking advantage of Dedner’s tentative defense to drive by him time after time.

Bonner said he has nothing against Dedner — they are friends on social media — even though the two bantered throughout the game, or at least in the early portions.

“He texted me before the game,” Bonner said. “He said, ‘Have a good game.’ I said, ‘You, too.’ ”

Once the game started, the chatter continued.

“I just told him, ‘You can’t get anything easy,’ ” Bonner said. “The game plan was to make him take contested threes and keep them on the perimeter.”

Not only did Clarendon hold down Dedner but the Lions also rose up after losing senior forward Maalik Cartwright, who left the game with a knee injury early in the second quarter.

Enter Cartwright’s replacement, senior Rodrick Williams, who more than filled in by scoring 18 points.

“He picked a very good time to have the best game of his career,” Hudson said of Williams.

Tyrus Thomas also scored 18 points for Clarendon.

Lafayette County Coach Roderick Briggs had nothing but praise for Clarendon.

“They went straight man against him [Dedner], with no help,” Hudson said. “They defended him tight.

“We’ve seen triangle-and-2’s. We’ve seen boxand-1’s. We’ve seen it all, everything imaginable. It was no surprise. Clarendon just did a very good job defensively.

“We needed other guys to make plays, and it just didn’t happen.”

Dedner was the game’s leading scorer. Nehemiah Miller had 14 points, including four three-pointers. Martavious Miller and CJ Williams finished with 12.

“All the credit goes to Clarendon,” Briggs said.