Just a win probably would have been good enough for William Monroe coach Phillip Lamb on his birthday. Instead his team gift wrapped this one as they dominated Strasburg from one end of the court to the other, handling the Rams in a 64-25 victory.
“I thought we shot well and moved the ball very well,” Lamb said. “It seemed like we did a great job of finding the right person to take the best shot on most of our possessions.”
Monroe played cat-and-mouse defense, sagging back on defense and forcing turnover after turnover, converted in transition and hammered away at the free throw line missing just 4 of 36 attempts, prompting the coach to coach to praise their pregame efforts.
“Wow, the shoot-around really paid off today,” Lamb said. “They came In early and worked really hard and if you put that effort in there, you don’t have to change the effort in the game.”
Monroe worked steadily on Strasburg, establishing an 8-point lead in the first, getting up comfortably in the second going into the break by 13, and then blowing the doors off in the third quarter thanks to a 12-2 run led largely there by five point from Brianna Allen to make it a 23 point game.
“Last time we played them we didn’t play all that well, so we did not want to give them the mentality that they would be able to hang with us all game,” said Monroe’s Alex Cave. “We did what we’ve been working on in practice and tried to play hard on defense.”
With the free throws falling, little changed in the fourth as Monroe jumped out by as many as 33 points to cruise to an easy finish.
Eight different players scored four or more points with Cave leading the way with 12. Allen finished with 11 while sophomore Arica Brown added 10 to give the Dragons a trio in double figures. Haley Utz tallied nine points while Alexa Smith and Carrie Doyle each contributed six.
“We’re not the fastest team in the world, but we still like to push the ball,” Lamb said. “By consistently pushing the ball, we were able to find the open shooters. That was big and that all started on the defensive end, not giving up offensive rebounds. When you limit teams to just one shot and then, commit the lowest turnovers we have this year, it helped a lot.”
The Dragons defense, which looked like a 2-3 zone as they sat back behind the 3-point line consistently baited the Rams into dribbling miscues or contestable passes resulting in a slew of turnovers. And with the transition game running at full steam, Monroe thrived.
“They don’t shoot much there so we took a step back off the 3-point line,” Cave said. “So their guards wanted to dribble in, but if you give them a step they can’t beat you.”
Monroe (10-6, 7-1 Bull Run District) head to Manassas Park on Thursday at 7:45 p.m.
