By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
LAST 10 YEARS
Bandys High is excited about having a chance to reach the state basketball playoffs this season. Here’s a look at the previous 10 seasons for the Trojans:
Year Coach Record
2007-08 Brad Gabriel 4-19
2008-09 Brad Gabriel 7-19*
2009-10 Brad Gabriel 15-12*
2010-11 Brad Gabriel 0-25
2011-12 Mark Story 1-23
2012-13 Scott Stilwell 7-17
2013-14 Scott Stilwell 10-14
2014-15 Jason Barnes 1-22
2015-16 Adam Dutka 8-18
2016-17 Adam Dutka 7-16
TOTALS 60-185
*–earned state playoff bid
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files
CATAWBA – Adam Dutka no longer has to reach back to his own playing days in college to feel the fire before games that is the norm for him in his third season as head boys’ basketball coach at Bandys High.
As the fourth-seeded Trojans (14-9) prep to play fifth-seeded Lake Norman Charter (10-12) at Bandys on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. in a first round game of the South Fork 2A tournament, they’re motivated because they are playing have-to-win games with a meaning.
DUTKA
The winner of Tuesday night’s game stays in position to earn a bid into the state 2A playoffs, and the loser will be a long shot to get in.
To get here, Bandys has had to put together three straight gut-checking wins and two with everything’s-on-the-line implications.
After a win at last-place West Lincoln, the Trojans beat Lake Norman Charter at Bandys 68-61 on Feb. 6, then went to North Lincoln last Friday night and won 56-51. As they went to North Lincoln, they knew a victory, coupled with a Lincolnton win over Maiden, would earn them a No. 3 league tournament seed via a tie-breaker.
As it turned out, Maiden beat Lincolnton to finish in third place, leaving Bandys and Lake Norman — each 8-6 in the league — tied for fourth place (they split in the regular season).
Dutka, whose first two Bandys teams went 8-18 and 7-16, said he simply told his team to go out, play and have fun.
“I told them to go out and enjoy the two opportunities and they could go out and have fun or come out and play timid,” he said. “I really think in the second half (Friday at North Lincoln) we had fun.”
Getting some key plays down the stretch from several players, Bandys grabbed its 14th victory of the season by wiping out an 11-point deficit.
Laz Maxwell pulled the Trojans even at 42 with three minutes, 58 seconds to play. After Charlie Styborski hit a free throw, he missed another and Maxwell pulled the rebound and scored.
Up 45-44 with 3:08 to play, Bandys got two free throws by Davis Clanton, and at 47-46 came a 3-pointer from Ja’Tay Culliver. By the time the Trojans had finished a 12-4 run over 2 ½ minutes they led 54-46.
“That’s clutch, absolutely clutch” Dutka said of Culliver’s 3-pointer. “And when I look at a captain and a senior (delivering) that’s Ja’Tay.”
VIDEO: ban-north boys
For the first time in many years, the Trojans have delivered more times than not in a season that a community with a long memory of success has longed for.
Dutka has pushed for that and is still pushing.
“I told’em (his players) I haven’t wanted to win a game more than this one since back in my college days,” he said after the win at North Lincoln. “Every bone in my body …”
A win on Tuesday night, in another game with a potentially huge prize, would impact a program that has fond memories of late season games that really matter.
The Trojans haven’t played a state playoff game since 2009-10, have only one state playoff win since 2000 and only four postseason appearances in the previous 24 seasons.
Before that, Bandys had 21 straight teams earn state playoff bids (1972-73 through 1992-93) with three of those teams – from 1978-79 through 1981-82 – playing for a state 2A title and the other team also making the Final Four.
This season’s state playoffs begin next Tuesday, with pairings developed on Saturday. The top three teams in the South Fork 2A – East Lincoln, Lincolnton and Maiden – will get in and the No. 4 team is expected to make it through a new seeding process and get in (but not guaranteed to).
For the first time, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is using where a team ranks via MaxPreps to formulate the bracket. That means the fourth-place teams — seeded after teams that finished 1-2-3 in a league — are pooled together and the slots will go out based on that rank rather than on team record/next best winning percentages.
Comments 1
Great article. Wonderful effort by Coach. Dutka, his staff and our players. So proud of each and everyone. C. Bock