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Fight Back: Monroe girls shake off slow start to beat Jefferson Forest

Photo by Bart Isley

There just aren’t any high school basketball teams out there that aren’t going to have to figure out at some point how to overcome slow starts. 

 

William Monroe’s girls basketball team took a big step toward figuring that piece of the puzzle out Saturday when the Dragons overcame a terribly slow start to roll 50-26 past Jefferson Forest in the Play for Preemies Showcase. 

 

“We kind of had to go inside of ourselves as individuals and learn to apply it outside,” said Monroe’s Hailey Morris. “(We had) to focus on playing with confidence, overcoming self doubt and self-tension.”

 

The Dragons scored just five first quarter points, but luckily for Monroe their defense was locked in too as they held Jefferson Forest to just five points too. That set the stage for the offense to get rolling, eventually closing the game with a huge 20-point fourth quarter to put the game away for good. 

 

A big-time double double from Martha Apple powered that surge by the Dragons as Apple totaled 18 points and 13 boards. Ella Weaver also had a double double with 10 points and 10 boards while Chloe Rush finished with 12 points and eight boards. 

 

With Morris dishing out seven assists while knocking down two 3-pointers in the fourth, the Monroe offense eventually found its way.

 

“We started tight and we’ve been tight the past three games,” said Monroe coach Jess Stafford. “They want to be so successful and we just have to let go and stop squeezing so hard.”

 

Rush scored seven of her 12 points in the fourth, putting together a solid effort as she continues to emerge as another threat in the post.

 

“When she’s on, she’s very difficult to stop because she’s so physical,” Stafford said. “She just went in there and banged around with them, I was very proud of her.”

 

It was the second year that Monroe participated in the Play for Preemies Showcase and it clearly won’t be the last according to Stafford. 

 

“I love this, and this aligns exactly with what we want to do, serving the community and humbling yourself to a cause bigger than yourself,” Stafford said. “This is a no-brainer, we’ll be in this every single year, (Western coach Kris Wright) can play it on Christmas Day and we’ll show up.”

 

The Dragons travel to take on Brentsville Tuesday night in what is usually a crucial Northwestern District matchup for Monroe. 

 

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