Warriors knock off Dragons in semis

Behind a balanced offensive attack and some crucial free-throw shooting, Western Albemarle was able to advance to the Jefferson District final with a 67-59 victory over William Monroe on its home court on Tuesday night.

“We were balanced offensively,” said Warriors coach Darren Maynard. “I also thought that we did a good job of defending against Mike Roach. Michael Morris did an outstanding job for us and his effort on the court was probably as big as all the points everyone else scored.”

The two squads went back and forth until midway through the fourth quarter, when the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to extend their three-point lead into double digits.

Three Warriors finished in double figures, with Christian Pierce leading the way with 16 points.

“This is definitely the most important game of our season,” Pierce said. “If we lost we weren’t sure if we’d play again and we definitely didn’t want that for our seniors. We had enough motivation.”

Ryan Hughes scored 14 on his 8 for 10 performance late in the game at the free-throw line. Travis Washington had 14 points, most of which came in the fourth quarter despite the Greene Dragons’ effort to lock him down.

“He’s accepted that some teams are going to gear their defense towards him and he just bides his time,” Maynard said of Washington. “When he gets a good look, he cashes it in.”

Marques Towles was the leading scorer for Monroe. Towles had 16 points while Western was able to limit Roach to 13, just under half of which came from the charity stripe. Mike Wims chipped in 10 points and five blocks.

“I was proud of how hard they played,” said Dragons coach Mike Maynard. “Western’s a great team. We faced some adversity there.”

Monroe’s season isn’t over quite yet. The Dragons can clinch a Division 3 playoff berth with losses from Millbrook or Central-Woodstock in today’s Northwestern District tournament.

“Hopefully things will break our way tomorrow and we can keep playing,” Maynard said. “I’m really proud of this season. I just pray it isn’t over. I love my seniors to death.”