Summer Tarpley got her team started, and once William Monroe turned it on, despite facing foul trouble, they never turned it off. The big first quarter gave the Greene Dragons all the wiggle room they needed, ultimately providing the home crowd with a 58-40 win against a scrappy Monticello team that was unable to chew deep enough into the deficit.
“We came out with great energy tonight and that’s something we’ve been talking about — starting quickly,” said Monroe coach Phillip Lamb. “The last couple of game it’s taken us a bit to warm up, but I thought we started great.”
Tarpley and fellow junior teammate Alex Cave got the Dragons out to a 10-0 start by picking off Mustangs passes and converting them into points. Soon Monroe forward Tiffany Snead warmed up and her play underneath the basket helped her team finish the first frame with a 17-point lead, allowing Monticello just four points in the process.
“We’ve been trying to get really pumped up before out games during warm-ups,” Tarpley said. “We’re trying hard to come together as a team.”
Both teams went cold in the second quarter, with the Dragons stuggling from the field and the Mustangs struggling from the free thow line. Just 11 points were scored in the quarter before halftime with Monroe edging Monticello, 6-5.
With Cave continuing to create plays on defense, the Dragons rolled out in front of the Mustangs by as many as 25 points to start the third quarter. However, Monticello did not fold down the stretch with Jessie Valentic, Hannah Shepherd and Bridgette Holleran helping their team to get to as close at 16.
“Our kids played extremely hard in the second half despite having a pretty big mountain to overcome,” said Monticello coach Mike Mountjoy. “Monroe’s talented, tough and well-coached. They might have different lights on the floor, but the atmosphere is always tough.”
Up comfortably though, Monroe refused to give up any sizeable runs, and finished the game strong. Cave led all scorers with 11 points and four assists but was also rock defensively, chipping in 10 rebounds, three steals.
“Right now, we’re a defensive team,” Cave said. “We’re working on that first and then worrying about our offense after that.”
Brianna Allen hit a trio of 3-pointers to finish with nine points. Tarpley was close behind with eight. Caitlyn Roach and Snead had seven and six respective points.
For Monitcello, Holleran finished with a team best eight points. Shepherd had six points and tied with Brittanny Haun for the team lead in rebounds with six boards. Valentic and Maggie Echols each had five points.
“We’ve got kids stepping up and learning new roles and hopefully we’ll continue to adapt,” Mountjoy said. “Tonight was just one of those nights where sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. Tonight we were the bug.”
The Mustangs, (1-3, 0-2) host Madison County today at 7:15 p.m.
The Dragons, (4-1, 1-1) will also host Madison County, but will do so on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
