Danville started strong and didn’t let off of the gas.

The Admirals went with a full-court press from the opening tip an d Franklin County couldn’t find the answer, ending in a 75-52 Danville victory.

Dante Hayden came off of the bench and led Danville with 26 points and four steals. As a team, Danville had 14 steals and forced even more errors from the Flyers throughout the game.

“Dante came in and gave us a good spark off of the bench,” Danville head coach Ed McKinney said. “I thought before Dante came in the game and hit, we were good. We just missed a couple easy ones. I thought our intensity was really good. Zach (Thornton) played hard, David (Walker) has been really good the past two weeks, Jared (Southerland) is playing hard. Our defensive intensity, we get up the floor a little bit and that gets you into it. We chased the ball down some and forced them to turn it over.”

Walker teamed up with Tanner Ford for the play of the night: He forced a steal at midcourt, passed ahead to Ford who lobbed it back to Walker for a slam.

The Admirals led 24-15 after one quarter and 46-28 at halftime, led by Hayden’s 21 points. Hayden finished 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. As a team, Danville finished 8-for-19 from outside against Franklin County’s 2-3 zone.

“We’ve just got to get the guys to feel a little more free, playing against zone all the time,” McKinney said. “You don’t want to be hesitant, but you get that first ball from the point to the wing and you’re wide open. You want to shoot good shots but you also want to probe and see what’s behind the defense, throw it to the short corner or get it to the middle. I thought we did OK, if you play hard you can live with quick shots.”

Danville’s emphasis in practice on the glass also paid off: Thornton and Southerland each had seven rebounds and three offensive boards.

“We went after a lot of rebounds. We did a tad better on offensive rebounds,” McKinney said. “They may have had 25 or 30 turnovers, so the ball wasn’t on the rim a lot. But offensively, we really went after the ball hard. We’re getting over the back calls which means we’re really going after it. It’s getting better, we’re trying to make that a point of emphasis. The thing that disappoints me defensive rebounding, we don’t squeeze it and we get it ripped out of our hands.”

Most of Danville’s turnovers were in the backcourt — the Admirals finished with 15 — but McKinney said his team is continuing to progress with their play.

The Admirals improve to 7-11 with the win and have split games since an 0-4 start to the season.

“I think we’re a little better than our record says we are,” McKinney said. “We’re learning how to play and I’m learning them. I’m learning what we can and can’t do, and that takes time, especially when you don’t have a preseason. So this is one game, I’m pleased tonight. We got a lot of guys off of the bench, which was good.”

 

At Danville 24 22 11 18 — 75

Franklin County 15 13 12 12 — 52

 

Danville stats

Points: Dante Hayden 26, Jared Southerland 12, Zach Thornton 11, David Walker 6, Darrian Bell 5, Ethan Wood 4, Tanner Ford 3, Corey Zeznanski 3, Tevin Kavanaugh 2, Jaleel Warren 2, Caden Hill 1.

 

Rebounds: Southerland 7, Thornton 7, Wood 5, DeShaud St. Martin 4, Walker 3, Bell 3, Ford 2, Zeznanski 1, Hayden 1.

 

Assists: Ford 4, Trey Dawson 2, Walker 2, Southerland 2, Kavanaugh 2, St. Martin 1, Thornton 1, Price 1, Wood 1.

 

Steals: Walker 4, Hayden 4, Southerland 2, Thornton 2, St. Martin 1.