Headlines

William Monroe boys drop James Monroe to advance to region semis

On Friday evening, William Monroe dropped  James Monroe 74-58 in the first round of the Regional 3B playoffs to keep things rolling after a strong finish to the regular season.

 

The first quarter, out the gate, you could tell William Monroe was going to put energy and passion into their performance. At first, both teams virtually traded bucket for bucket, and there was never any real separation for either squad. However, once the Dragons started penetrating James Monroe’s defense, they never looked back.

 

It was clear that William Monroe had a speed advantage, and in the second quarter, they used it to get an upper hand. They stifled James Monroe’s offense with suffocating defense, and after that, the Dragons were near unstoppable in the open floor, finishing at the rim or getting fouled on most every offensive possession.

 

A big reason for William Monroe’s success on offense was junior guard Tucker Shifflett’s passing and playmaking ability.

 

“I just saw a lot of open gaps,” said Shifflett. “We were able to attack some and look for our kickouts, that’s what coach has been preaching, and I saw Troy (Jones) open, and I was trying to get him the ball as much as I could.”

 

Jones was a huge reason for the Dragons’ success on Friday night. Jones dropped 30 points including an absolute highlight real dunk. He finished with a double double with 10 rebounds and added four assists. He got some help from Shifflett, who finished the game with 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists. The Dragons also got a big boost from their bench, so their starters could never really get tired.

 

Although they got off to a bit of a slow start, William Monroe’s coach Brett Maynard is confident about the Dragons’ abilities and performance moving forward.

 

“I think our guys should be very confident,” said Maynard. “We’ve had a very good season, and to get the pressure of our first playoff game over with…I think we shot the ball well; we did some good things, we need to step it up defensively a little bit, but we’ll do that here soon. It’s definitely a nice confidence booster.”

 

After the win Friday night, the Dragons move on to the second round of the Region 3B playoffs, where they’ll face Manassas Park at home Tuesday evening.

 

 

Comments

comments