Dalton Gray Reaches 1000 Points in Highlander Loss

#12 Dalton Gray reached the 1,000 point plateau in his Highlander career.

Senior Dalton Gray reached the 1,000 point record tonight at home as the Webster County Highlanders' boys basketball team dropped their fourth straight game in a thrilling match with the ninth ranked Class A Charleston Catholic Irish by a score of 66 to 63.

Gray becomes only the fourth player in the 40 plus year history of the high school to score 1,000 or more points.  Gray made a layup with less than 10 seconds remaining as the Highlanders were battling back against the Irish to record his 1000th point.

Webster played brilliantly in the first two quarters, taking a 32-29 lead into halftime.  Thanks to a very poor call by a referee as time expired at the end of the third quarter, the teams were tied at 48 at the end of three quarters.  Well beyond the three point circle, Hayden Williams was playing defense and remained stationary as time was about to expire.  An Irish player then purposely jumped a few feet into Hayden as the Irish player shot the ball.  At best, time should have expired with no call, and upon further review, a charging foul should have been levied against the Irish player.  Instead, the referee made an ill-advised call against Webster, allowing the Irish player to sink 2 of 3 free throw attempts to tie the game at 48.

The Highlanders finally surrendered the lead in the fourth quarter, but kept the game close right to the end.  Billy Wilson started for the first time this season and proved his worth on defense by taking at least two charges, and scored 6 points on offense.  Based on tonight's performance against a very tough Irish team, Wilson should continue to see significant playing time.  Others scoring for Webster included:  D. Gray, 13; Tyler Gray, 5; Chase Rose, 9; Dorian Groggs, 17; Bradin Miller, 9; and Hayden Williams, 4.

Groggs was named for the all tournament team after the game.

With the loss, Webster's record now stands at six wins, five losses.  They next play Thursday evening at Gilmer County.

Parker Stout (right) and Jay Stiltner broadcast the Highlander games
at livestream.com/websterhighlanders.

The Webster team posed for photos after the game, joining Dorian Groggs, who
was awarded a plaque for being named on the all tournament team.