Dillard goes wire-to-wire against Miami Gulliver

FORT LAUDERDALE – Defending Class 7A state champion Dillard hit Miami Gulliver Prep with a one-two punch early, blowing out to a 23-9 first-quarter lead and 33-17 advantage at halftime.

Gulliver Prep countered with an impressive 23-point third quarter to cut Dillard’s lead to eight, 48-40, heading to the final eight minutes.

But Dillard was able to take that punch — and just had more in the tank — en route to a 74-56 victory Saturday on Day 2 of the Hoop Exchange 2017 Southern Shootout at Westminster Academy. Dillard scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to balloon the advantage back to 59-40 and outscored Gulliver 26-16 in the period.

“Coach [Darryl Burrows] talked about picking up the intensity on defense,” senior guard Bryce Oliver said. “That’s what we usually do down the stretch. We wear teams out with our size and our depth along the bench.”

“They had a tremendous third quarter,” Burrows said of Gulliver. “They’re a team that needs to be reckoned with. They’ve got some players that can really play.”

The 6-foot-1 Oliver, one of the few holdovers off the state-championship squads of the past two seasons, led Dillard (4-0) with 25 points and senior Noel Alexander added 11. Oliver, a three-star Division I football prospect, said he would be taking visits to Kentucky Dec. 15 and Louisville Jan. 15 and that UCF and USF were also in the mix.

Nine different Panthers scored in the first half.

“Their depth is a killer,” Gulliver Prep coach Manny Bloom said of Dillard. “They rotate four bigs, seven guards, 11 guys. We’re pretty much in a seven-man rotation, if that. We’re all freshmen and sophomores. The [lack of ] experience of the big games right now is hurting us.”

Jamal Mashburn Jr. led Gulliver Prep with 22 points. The Raiders’ (3-2) two losses are to Dillard and nationally ranked University School.

In other games at the Southern Shootout on Saturday, it was:

NORTHEAST 69, WESTMINSTER ACADEMY 64: The Hurricanes (4-1) held off a furious second-half rally by the 4A defending state champion Lions (2-2).

CALVARY CHRISTIAN 53, MCARTHUR 51: Towson University 6-8 signee Solomon Uyaelunmo scored 11 of his gamehigh 23 points in the fourth quarter for the defending Class 5A state champions.

MIRAMAR 51, ATLANTIC 44: Miramar led 12-3 after one quarter and never looked back in running its record to 7-0.

DWYER 63, CORAL SPRINGS 54: Eddie Davis popped in 24 points as the Panthers ran their record to 5-0. Michael Ingraham had 16 for Dwyer and Miles Coleman 13.