There has been no shortage of tight games for William Monroe so far this season. The Greene Dragons have had a fight on their hands in each contest they’ve played dating back to the end of December. In the last six games for Monroe, all six have been decided by six points or fewer with three wins and three losses. Make it seven.
Tuesday was another battle, and with Orange County thriving off of its full court press in the second and third quarters, Monroe looked to be in dire straits. However, a few quick plays to open the fourth quarter from Macon Richardson-Gilliam off the bench lit a fire under the rest of his teammates that spark a huge fourth quarter run to dig the Dragons out of a sizable hole and put them out in front. While finishing games has been somewhat problematic for Monroe this year, it wasn’t against the Hornets as the home team got the job done with a 63-57 win.
“We’ve had a chance in a lot of these games we’ve lost that we could have won — I’m not saying should have,” said Dragons coach Mike Maynard. “We could have won against Fluvanna and Monticello, but didn’t. We’ve had a lot of tight games and it felt like it’s been a while since we won. This win shows us that we’ve been working hard and getting better.”
Orange may have been down early in the game, but with their full court trap, constant rotation of players and aggressive mindset, it didn’t take long for the Hornets to seize the momentum. Down by double digits in the first quarter, Orange bounced back to make it a three point game by the end of the second and tie the contest early in the third quarter.
With the press forcing one turnover after another and the Hornets taking the ball in for easy layups or drawing fouls on contested shots underneath, momentum rested with the vistors for the rest of the third quarter and opening minute of the fourth. Behind the two-way play of speedy guards Tyler Seal, Jamal Hunter and Raheem Cooper, Orange built up an eight-point lead and appeared to have Monroe on the ropes.
“Orange is quick and athletic and we had trouble with our spacing against them in the second and third quarter,” Maynard said.
But it was then that Richardson-Gilliam came in and put in three quick points, collected a pair of rebounds and probably most importantly, helped Monroe snap a string of turnovers. That got Brennan Lawson going. The junior forwards aggressive play was instrumental in the Dragons taking the lead in the first quarter behind his rebounding and post play on offense until he landed in foul trouble.
“When we got the ball up the court we finally finished the game,” Maynard said. “We’ve been struggling with finishing lately, so I guess we got our turnovers out of the way early in this one.”
With Richardson and Lawson contributing, Faulkner, Markell Williams and Desmon Shaver all started to find their rhythm, and over the next three minutes the Dragons broke loose to go on a 14-1 run to take a 5-point lead with a little over three minutes to play.
After surrendering the lead, Orange clawed back through, and a Seal 3-pointer made it a one point game with 53 seconds to play. Shaver put Monroe back up by three on a pair of free throws during his team’s next possession. Shaver knocked down two more with 20 seconds to left to put the game away.
Both Shaver and Faulkner had 14 points and nine rebounds on the night. Joining the duo in double figures was Williams who came up with 10 points. Lawson finished with eight points and a game high 13 boards despite spending much of the game on the bench because of his foul trouble.
“Lawson was an animal when he was in the game,” Maynard said. “It was unfortunate he got in foul trouble, but he’s an aggressive player and we’re happier when he plays aggressive rather than passive.”
Seal led all scorers with his 22-point performance. Cooper and Hunter also had productive nights, putting up 12 and 14 points respectively.
William Monroe (11-7, 4-6 Jefferson) heads to Charlottesville on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Orange (13-4, 7-2) travels to Fluvanna County also on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
