William Monroe girls basketball’s Dajour Strother owned the low block against Manassas Park Saturday in the Conference 28 quarterfinals, particularly with an efficient, solid first half outing.
But according to her that didn’t really happen by design, that’s just how it worked out.
“We work a lot on moving the ball around in practice,” Strother said. “If (the post game is) there, it’s there and if the outside shot is there, that’s what’s there too. Anything that works.”
Strother finished with a game-high 15 points as the Dragons locked down Manassas Park for a 44-16 victory. Monroe held Manassas Park to just a single second half field goal.
“Our goal was to keep it pretty low and we do great on defense anyway it just really came out tonight,” Strother said.
Bull Run District player of the year Sam Brunelle finished with nine points on the night, well off her season average, but Strother’s performance and the Dragons’ lights out team defense was more than enough to carry the day.
“Teams are going to key on Samantha so she’s going to be that secondary option in the post and I’m really happy for her,” said Monroe coach Jess Stafford. “She’s worked really hard so it’s great to see her cash in on some of that hard work.”
Strother’s offense early on certainly seemed to give the Dragons a little bit of a spark. The first team All-Bull Run honoree has made big strides this season, and flashed a quick release in the paint that came with a certain amount of patience that’s key to handling business down low.
“We’ve definitely worked on slowing it down, making sure we’re taking our time, getting our feet right and I think confidence has a lot to do with that too,” Stafford said.
The Dragons now advance to the Conference 28 semifinals where they’ll host Warren County Wednesday night.
The game started off on an emotional note with senior Makayla Morris, who tore her ACL against George Mason, scoring the first basket of the game after reaching the key on crutches just before tip-off in a move agreed upon by both coaches.
Now the Dragons move on to face Warren County in the Conference 28 semifinals.
