Against Madison County a little more than a week ago, a slow start doomed William Monroe’s girls basketball team. Wednesday night, a slow start nipped the Dragons again in a 57-38 loss to George Mason.
Trailing 14-4 at the end of the first quarter and then 27-9 at the break, William Monroe simply couldn’t dig back out against the Mustangs’ stifling defense, falling for the third straight time to George Mason after the Mustangs knocked the Dragons out of the playoffs a year ago before advancing to the state quarterfinals. Bella Paradiso led George Mason with 15 points while Zoraida Icabaleeta notched 14 and Eliszabeth Creed had 12.
That balanced offense was enought to take advantage of Mason holding Monroe to 10 or fewer points until an explosive fourth quarter for the Dragons. Ella Weaver scored eight of her 11 points in that fourth while Hailey Morris scored six of her nine in the frame. Chloe Rush chipped in six points and 10 boards for the Dragons.
Monroe will now turn its attention to the Region 3B tournament that starts next week. They’re slated to host a game Monday night in the opening round.
