For a few minutes it appeared that maybe the weight of the moment had gotten to William Monroe’s girls basketball team.
A young squad faced one of their first true championship moments Tuesday night when they traveled to Central Woodstock where a win would secure a share of the regular season Bull Run title and the Dragons promptly fell into a 14-3 hole.
Undaunted though, Monroe roared back, led at the half and held on for a 52-48 victory over the Falcons that ended Central’s 14-game win streak coming into the clash. Central, which sports a 19-2 record, also holds a share of the Bull Run title.
The game was tied at 48-48 with just under three minutes to play but strong defense down the stretch and a spurt that included buckets from Dajour Strother and Sam Brunelle gave Monroe all they needed for the win.
Lacey Beale finished with just four points for the Dragons, but they came at big moments as she tied the game in the third quarter and had a lay-in to tie the game again in the fourth.
Brunelle and Strother both posted monster double doubles, with Brunelle scoring 29 points while hauling in 19 rebounds. Strother had 13 points and 12 rebounds while also managing on defense to hold Tamara Scott of Central largely in check. Scott finished with 10 points.
Brunelle buried four 3-pointers on eight attempts, had four blocks, three assists and a pair of steals. She was also solid as usual at the charity stripe with a 9-for-13 night at the line.
Lindsay Knights had four points and six rebounds for the Dragons.
Aryana Strother led Central with 19 points.
Monroe will now set its sights on the Conference 28 tournament, where they’ll be the No. 1 seed and host Manassas Park at 6 p.m. Friday night.
