Dockery uses support from hometown fans as fuel in King victory over VI

BRISTOL, Va. – Mark Dockery never lacks for motivation.

Since his glory days at Twin Springs High School, the 6-foot-4 shooter has been supported by a loyal cast of family and friends. When Dockery scores, his fans roar.
Dockery delivered another commanding performance Saturday at Virginia High’s Bearcat Den.

Motivating his personal cheering section, Dockery connected for a game-high 17 points to guide the King College Tornado to an 81-39 victory over the Virginia Intermont Cobras.

“I probably had about 10 people here, including my parents,” said Dockery, who added six rebounds and five steals. “Twin Springs is a basketball community, and I have a lot of relationships with some real good people over there. They usually text me to find out when we’re playing.”

The Dockery gang arrived at VHS as a group early Saturday afternoon, then watched as their humble hero helped King add to a 32-17 halftime advantage. King (5-3) shot 56 from the field in the second half and forced a total of 34 turnovers.

“I was pleased with our performance, but I could have played better,” Dockery said. “I missed a lot of open shots.”

Virginia Intermont (0-15) actually led 5-4 four minutes into the game and trailed just 16-11 at the 8:15 mark of the first half. The Cobras had no answer for the depth of King, which had 12 players score at least two points.
Staring at the stat sheet long after the loss, VI coach Scott Hoagland lamented the plight of his team.

“[King] gets to recruit at the NCAA Division II level, so they ought to be able to come at us in waves,” said Hoagland, adding that the once hot rivalry between Bristol schools has lost some of its appeal due to the disparity in scholarships.

Wade Bryant, a 6-4 junior guard from Knoxville, led the Cobras with 13 points while versatile 6-4 junior forward Marquette Knight (Nashville) added 12 points and 10 rebounds. VI, which entered the season with 10 new players, has played a challenging schedule that includes a recent matchup with the top-ranked NAIA Division 1 school in Mountain State.

“At one point tonight, we had four freshmen and a junior that hadn’t played in a year and a half on the floor,” said Hoagland, referring to Knight. “That experience makes a big difference. We’ve been playing over our head. We’re going to be glad to get back into conference play.”

Hoagland was impressed with the cohesion of King, which consistently swarmed the VI guards.

“We felt pretty good at halftime but King’s depth gets to you,” Hoagland said. “It seems like Dockery and those guys have been there forever. King is well-coached and disciplined.”

According to King coach George Pitts, the Tornado remains a work in progress. Points of emphasis include establishing a starting point guard and finding more scoring production in the interior.

“I think you could tell that we’ve been off for 18 days today,” Pitts said. “We shot the ball pretty poorly, especially in the first half, but I was pleased overall. From a defensive standpoint, we made plays because we were in the right position for the most part.”

Dockery provides a comfort zone for the Torando. The self-admitted gym rat spent part of his winter break honing his jumper with sessions at Twin Springs High School, a public park in Scott County and the Dockery family backyard.

“I just tried to stay active,” Dockery said. “And having my friends here always makes me play better.”

Six-foot-three junior Stephen Kite (Atlanta, Ga.) added 15 points for King. The Tornado travels to Emory & Henry on Monday for a makeup game.

KING COLLEGE (81)
Dockery 6-14 2-2 17; Kite 4-9 5-5 15; Murray 4-7 2-5 10; Seymore 3-5 3-4 9; Padgett 2-3 0-0 6; Johnson 2-7 1-2 6; Smith 2-4 1-5 5; Hewitt 1-7 2-2 5; Thomas 1-1 0-0 2; McCargo 1-5 0-0 2; Cleland 1-2 0-0 2; Blair 1-4 0-0 2; Gross 0-0 0-0 0; Batson, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 16-25 81.
VIRGINIA INTERMONT (59)
Bryant 5-12 1-2 13; Knight 3-7 5-7 12; Ross 0-1 4-6 4; McDaniel 2-5 0-0 4; Mulkey 1-6 0-0 3; Spurling 1-2 0-0 2; Richardson 0-0 1-2 1; Anderson 0-0 0-0 0; Hardwick 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 11-17 39.
Halftime – King 32-17. 3-point goals - King 9-33 (Dockery 3-11; Padgett 2-3;
Kite 2-4; Hewitt 1-5; Johnson 1-4; McCargo 0-3; Blair 0-2; Murray 0-1), VI 4-18
Bryant 2-6; Mulkey 1-6; Knight 1-4; Hardwick 0-1; Ross 0-1). Fouled out – Spurling . Rebounds - King 40 (Seymore 10), VI 28 (Knight 10). Assists - King 18, (Hewitt 8), VI 8 (Bryant 3). Total fouls - King 15, VI 19. Technical fouls – none.

COLLEGE WOMEN

King 78, Va. Intermont 46

Ashley Deans and her King College teammates have been counting down the hours until their trip to a three-game tournament in Puerto Rico. Deans had a more immediate concern Saturday, however.
The 5-10 junior supplied 23 points and seven rebounds as King opened a 42-15 halftime lead en route to the comfortable win.

“We all have the trip in the back of our minds, but we were focused on winning this game,” Deans said.

Deans knows winning. The two-year starter advanced to the state basketball tournament four times while playing at Greeneville High, and has gradually refined her skills at King.

“Playing at the state tournament was a great experience, and it really helped me prepare for the competition in college,” Deans said. “My bread and butter is working in the paint, but I’ve been working on my footwork and drives.”

Three players reached double figures for King in the first half, as VI shot just 20 percent from the field. Former Virginia High School standout Ashley Grimm led the Cobras (2-13) with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Haley Odle added 15 points.

“We played well and made some passes at times, but we need to put that together,” said VI coach Jaclyn Dickens, who used just six players. “We’re going through a little bit of a learning lesson with everything right now. These next few games will teach us a lot about things we need against our conference teams.”

King coach Michele Williams also hopes her team can incorporate some hoops lessons amid the sun and fun of Puerto Rico. King is scheduled to leave campus Sunday morning at 4.

“I kind of threatened the players a little bit today that we would do some extra running if we didn’t play well,” Williams said. “The players have been looking forward to our trip all year, but VI is a dangerous team and I had to make sure their minds were where they needed to be.”

The major concern for King (5-6) has been turnovers. The Tornado have been averaging 26 turnovers, but made just 12 miscues Saturday.

“You can’t win games if you turn the ball over,” Williams said. “This game was much better.”

KING COLLEGE (78)
Deans 10-17 3-4 23; Bosse 6-12 2-2 14; Raby 4-6 1-2 13; Mooney 5-12 0-0 11; Williams 2-3 1-2 5; Kinser 2-5 0-0 5; Fields 1-1 0-0 3; Thornsberry 1-2 0-0 2; Tharpe 1-2 0-0 2; Watson 0-0 0-0 0; Bryan 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Treadway 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 7-10 78.
VA. INTERMONT (46)
Grimm 7 -12 1-3 15; Odle, Haley 5-11 5-6 15; Brown 3-7 1-2 8; Arnold 3-11 0-0 6; Odle, Heather 1-13 0-0 2; Haskins 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 7-11 46.
Halftime – King 42-15. 3-point goals - King 7-20 (Raby 4-5; Mooney 1-3; Fields 1-1; Kinser 1-3; Tharpe 0-1; Treadway 0-5; Deans 0-2), VI 1-10 (Brown 1-3; Odle, Heather 0-6; Haskins, Kendra 0-1). Fouled out – none.. Rebounds--King College 37 (Deans 7), VI 35 (Grimm 12). Assists - King 14 (Mooney 6), VI 7 (Odle, Heather 5). Total fouls - King 14, VI11. Technical fouls - none.