Coming off a loss to Orange County and still breaking in an entirely new lineup, William Monroe’s boys basketball team needed a lift coming into the clash with Fluvanna County Friday.
The Dragons found it in a balanced offensive effort and a big run bridging halftime to roll past visiting Fluvanna 69-53 in an old-school matchup of former Jefferson District foes, getting the Dragons’ first win of the season.
Logan Barbour led three Dragons, who are replacing a ton of offensive production from last year, in double figures with 19 points while Alex Kinsey added 16 and Jaekwon Wayne had 12 in the victory.
“We don’t have any superstars on this team,” Monroe head coach Brett Maynard said. “That’s what I like about this team, there’s no one guy you can key in on. We have a ton of guys playing together and playing hard.”
After a tight first quarter in which the Dragons finished with a 13-12 lead, the offense opened up in the second stanza. Fluvanna regained the lead at 23-22 on a pair of free throws by Blake Shifflett with 3:10 to go before halftime, but Monroe (1-1) finished the half on a 14-4 run that featured an old-fashioned three-point play, then later a three-pointer from Kinsey to take a 37-27 lead into the break.
It didn’t stop there. The Dragons scored the first 10 points after halftime before a driving layup by Fluvanna’s Emory Davis stopped the deluge with 5:32 to go in the third. By that point, however, Monroe had a strong grip on the game.
“We turned up the tempo–that’s what we wanted to do,” Maynard said. “We had a bunch of guys out there who hustled and put pressure on the ball and hustled their tails off, and that’s what it’s gonna take.”
The lead got as large as 25 early in the fourth before the Flucos (1-2) closed the gap a bit, scoring the final eight points of the game. Dashon Carter led Fluvanna with 22 points while AJ Gregory added 16.
Monroe’s offense stuck with its strategy of bombing away from outside to modest success, going 7-of-25 and on three-pointers, while the Flucos preferred to fast break every chance they had, yielding numerous free throw attempts. Fluvanna finished 29-of-40 from the stripe. The Dragons also frustrated Fluvanna into 23 turnovers.
Monroe hosts Orange in a rematch next Tuesday, while Fluvanna will host Waynesboro.
