Dillon Christian boys basketball team goes 9-12 in transitional season
Warriors to play SCISA Class A football beginning this fall, AA in all other sports
Dillon – A lot of people wouldn’t see a 9-12 record as a great season. That’s what the Dillon Christian School boys basketball team achieved this season in its first year under head coach Ryan Sampson.
And while Sampson would be far from satisfied with a succession of such records, he has no problem with the Warriors’ accomplishments this year.
“We finished the season with a 9-12 record, but overall I think we overachieved,” Sampson said. “With our top three scorers being sophomores and two seniors being a big part of our offense and defense, our record doesn’t show how good we really were.”
DCS was having to replace Thompson Stone and Jackson Outlar, both of whom averaged over 20 points per game. While sophomores McKinnon Sampson and Jordan Blackmon didn’t give Dillon Christian 20 a game each, they did give 16 a game, which led to both of them being named to the All-SCISA Region 3-AAA team.
Sampson, the head coach’s son, averaged 16.2 points draining 54 3-point shots in the process. He also averaged 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals. Blackmon was right behind at 16.1 points to go along with 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
The third leading scorer was sophomore Gray Easterling. He averaged 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals.
Senior Reece Bracey and Braxton Cummings were starters and sophomore Braylon Hunt saw a lot of time. Bracey averaged 4.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 steals. Cummings averaged 6.6 poins and 6.1 rebounds. Hunt averaged 3.1 points and 5.1 rebounds.
The Warriors went 2-6 in Region 3, which wasn’t good enough to get them in the state tournament. However, they could have easily turned things in a better direction as four of their overall losses were by five points or less.
Coach Sampson believes Dillon Christian has a chance to take a big step forward next season. One reason is because of the young, experienced talent it will have back. The other reason is because the Warriors will be in a new classification.
“With us moving down to AA next year we have a good chance to have a good season with our top three scorers returning,” he said.
After having played at the AAA level in all sports but football the past two seasons, Dillon Christian will be in AA for at least the next two seasons following reclassification. For football, the Warriors will play at the Class A level after having played AA.
