But his shot was deadly last night as the Bulldogs' ran past Whitmire 53-35 on the road.
The Bulldogs' reserve point guard drilled back-to-back threes in the first quarter that helped spark a 14-3 run that turned a close game into a huge 30-10 lead midway through the second quarter.
Bethea led the ‘Dogs with 10 points in the win in their regular season opener.
“(A spark from the bench) is something that we've been missing,” Newberry coach Chad Cary said. “Someone to come in, hit a couple of shots, take (the lead) from 10, to 13, to 16. (Bethea's threes) were big, but it wasn't like he scored two threes when we were up 23. We were up seven at the time. He can flat shoot the basketball. He's going to be special.”
Whitmire stayed close with the reigning Region III-2A champions for several minutes, before going scoreless for nearly six minutes during the Bulldogs' run.
Newberry's aggressive defense caused problems for the Wolverines as they committed countless turnovers, many leading to Bulldog layups.
“We were real rusty,” Whitmire coach Eric Thompson said. “We have a lot of young kids, and they almost looked like the deer in the headlights. Newberry's very quick, and we didn't match up real well and they came out with a lot of pressure. Our young guys just didn't handle the pressure really well.”
Newberry led by as many as 22 in the first half, but had their lead trimmed to 34-17 after two baskets after offensive rebounds by Jonathan Wilbanks.
The Wolverines were never any closer.
The ‘Dogs had 10 players score in the game, including eight from senior Bobby Coleman. The 6-foot-7 player had a pair of putback dunks in the first half.
Jay Jay Suber finished with seven points, while Taji Caughman chipped in five.
Gary Rouse and Miles Wilson scored four points each, while Travis Burton, Tyrone Tobe, Antwan Tribble and Kerry Workman each added two points.
Whitmire senior Desmond Harp led all scorers with 12 points, while David Reed added seven.
Wilbanks finished with four, while Stan Whitmire added three.
P.J. Davis and Joseph Brown chipped in two each.
Whitmire will return to action Friday when it hosts in-county Mid-Carolina.
Newberry gets back to work tonight when it travels to Fairfield Central for the backend of a doubleheader.
“We'll have to play better,” Cary said. “We're going up against a bigger, faster, stronger team (than Whitmire). It's Fairfield Central, they're 3-A, it's a rivalry game, and they'll be ready for us.”
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