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William Monroe boys fall in region quarterfinal to George Wythe

Photo by Brian Mellott

Just about everything went right early on  for William Monroe’s boys basketball team, but a rough start to the second half doomed the Dragons Tuesday night.

 

A talented George Wythe team ended the Dragons’ season with a 62-52 win in the Region 3A East quarterfinals.

 

The Bulldogs got 15 points from Jarec Brown and Darrell Purdie to lead four scorers in double figures and used a 10-1 run out of the gate in the third quarter to surge ahead of Monroe and got several timely three-pointers when it looked as if the Dragons would push back, keeping the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.

 

“We had to adjust,” Wythe coach Willard Coker said. “Monroe was pressuring us the whole first half. They’re a great team. We knew that we had to get some separation. They run good sets, they’re patient, they’ll back-door you.”

 

George Wythe forced turnovers on Monroe’s first four possessions of the second half and turned all of those into points, including a pair of threes from Eugene Williams sandwiched around a free throw from Malique Shackelford which broke the ice for the Dragons in the second half.

 

Shackelford led William Monroe with a game-high 20 points while Kam’Ron McCain added 12 in their final games. Fellow senior Anthony Terry finished with nine.

 

“[Shackelford] is so strong in the post,” Coker said. “He’s a grown man.”

 

After surrendering the first basket of the game, the Dragons led for nearly all of the first half, doubling a 14-10 lead after one quarter into eight on a three by McCain with 5:22 to go in the second, making it 20-12.

 

“In basketball it’s about runs and whether you can play solid defense,” Shackelford said. “We weren’t able to execute, but that’s what happens.”

 

But the Bulldogs climbed back into the game largely thanks to a pair of threes from Brown, who first answered McCain’s trey with one of his own, then hit another with 1:16 to go in the half to trim the lead to 26-24, the closest it had been since the opening minutes. The teams exchanged baskets once more to keep it at a two-point Monroe lead going into halftime.

 

In addition to Brown and Williams, the Bulldogs got 11 points from Antonio Bridy and 10 from Williams

 

“That’s pretty typical of us,” Coker said of his balanced offense. “We’re all pretty much the same size, and in this flex offense we look to get contributions from guys all over the floor.”

 

Monroe’s season ends with a record of 20-5 and a Conference 28 championship.

 

“It’s tough for us seniors but we know we’ll move on,” Shackelford said. “I leave with a smile on my face.”

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