Gary Morris took two years off from baseball to work on basketball. In that time, his development on the court skyrocketed, but he had to stand by and watch his fellow Dragons win a state title in the spring.
“Seeing them win it last year and I wasn’t a part of it just gave me more motivation to do that this year,” Morris said.
Now, after helping spark the Dragons to a 108-89 victory over Stuarts Draft, he’ll get his own shot at a title with Monroe advancing to the state tournament.
Instead of trying to fight against The Cougars’ wide open, shoot quickly, press hard and substitute liberally style, the Dragons adapted and employed their own version of the run and gun.
Monroe feasted on transition layups by throwing over or dribbling through the Cougars’ press, including a monster Jeff Early dunk that ended the first quarter.
“I figured if we got an advantage and it’s three on two and two on one we’re going to go at them,” said Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “When we saw an advantage we wanted to attack.”
Markel Williams led that attack with 32 points, but with the Dragons going at least 10 deep to hang with the Cougars, the offensive output was truly a team effort.
“I had about two or three guys at one time asking to come out,” Maynard said. “My subs did a great job, Dakwan (Morris) came in and got us some lay-ups, Tre White did a good job — two seniors that don’t play as much as my other three seniors.”
Monroe has the unique ability to go right at Draft’s unorthodox attack because Morris, who scored 21 points with 11 of them coming in the first quarter, and Williams are so tough to handle of the dribble.
“We don’t back down from anyone,” Williams said. “We knew coming in it was going to be a track meet, but we were ready.”
Draft’s cause didn’t get any help from the first half ejection of coach Mike Gale. Monroe consistently built on its lead throughout the game, turning a seven-point advantage in the first quarter into a 22-point halftime lead. The Dragons’ lead peaked in the third at 26 points.
Morris is just one of several seniors who have made Monroe a formidable Group A squad in the past two years. His improvement, however is almost unparalleled.
“He gave up baseball and I hope to get him back (this year),” Maynard said. “He’s improved more than anyone I’ve ever coached. Great kid, great heart and he loves to compete.”
For now, they’ve both got some basketball left. Baseball can wait at least another week.
