Playing Warren County for the third time, but this go around, in the Conference 28 quarterfinals, William Monroe thought it knew what to expect defensively from the Wildcats. What they got was something different, and they got it on a night that wasn’t friendly for the shooters to make matters tougher. While the ploy worked early on against the Dragons, in the third quarter, Monroe seemed to find its groove. But with a tough night at the charity stripe too and a Warren team that just never quit, the Dragons had to fight tooth and nail to pick up a 36-34 victory.
“Warren’s a tough team and they battle,” said Monroe coach Jess Stafford. “They came in with a good game plan that threw us off a bit. They’ve done a lot of interesting things defensively in the past, but they did something different and it slowed us down early.”
With Warren employing a triangle-and-two defense to double team Sam Brunelle and deny her the ball inside, the Dragons were forced to work the ball around the perimeter to try and find open looks. The Wildcats’ backcourt played solid defense and forced a string of turnovers to give them a 6-5 lead midway through the first quarter and a 12-10 advantage going into the second.
‘We challenged the kids, asked them if they wanted their (playoff) dreams to die to today or if they wanted to dig deep,” Stafford said. “It was one of those nights, but you can always hang your hat on your defense. We allowed 12 in the first quarter and then just (22) the rest of the way, so we knuckled down.”
To start the second, Monroe got back out in front with Brunelle tying the game and Dajour Strother putting her squad up 14-12. After baskets from Lindsay Knights and Emma Picket, the Dragons staked their largest lead of the first half at 18-13. Heading into the second half, Monroe held a 24-20 margin in its favor.
“It took us time to adjust but I felt like we found our ways,” Brunelle said. “Lindsay, when she gets going it’s hard to turn her off.”
Just like the beginning of the second quarter, the third started with two quick baskets as Knights helped to make it 30-20.
“Coming out and pushing like that in the third quarter was awesome,” Stafford said. “But we took the foot off the gas. Now I don’t know if that’s just because we were gassed or it’s something else. But we’ve had some tight games this year where we’ve learned some lessons and I think we did again tonight.”
That would prove to be the furthest out front that the Dragons would get, as this was a game that just lacked comfort for either squad. Warren trimmed the deficit to 31-25 going into the fourth and from there, it was a tough race to the finish for both squads.
Warren tied the game up at 31-31 late in the fourth but a pair of baskets from Knights put Monroe back out in front 35-31 midway through the frame. And then suddenly the points dried up for the Dragons. While Monroe tried to work down the clock, it missed its first four free throws of the fourth quarter. And with Warren’s Morgan Coons launching and connecting on a 3-pointer with nine seconds left, the Wildcats sent Brunelle to the line. Brunelle hit the back-end of her free throws to make it 36-34 with 3.9 seconds on the clock. With only three team fouls in the second half, Stafford called timeout, informed her defense to foul. After fouling once, the next attempt drew a turnover and the Dragons were able to run out the clock and wrap up the win.
“The first time we were in a situation like that was at Warren this year,” Stafford said. “I’m proud of our girls for battling, executing defensively at the very end. It’s survive and advance.”
For the Dragons, it’s their their fourth straight win since losing to George Mason on January 26. Monroe is unbeaten this season in games where they allow 45 or fewer points.
“We won this one on defense,” Brunelle said. “As long as we keep playing there the way we have lately, we’ll be good (going forward).”
Despite being shadowed all night by two defenders or more, Brunelle finished with 15 points, three assists, 16 rebounds, four steals and a staggering nine blocks to just miss out on a triple double. Knights added 10 points, four boards, and two assists. Strother had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Monroe will travel to Brentsville on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Just like with Warren, it will be the third meeting between the two this season. The Tigers won the first meeting at home 53-48 on December 6th and took the second one visiting the Dragons, 49-48, on December 21st.
