William Monroe wins, moves into tie for first in Bull Run

STANARDSVILLE — Markel Williams, Markel Faulkner and Gary Morris accounted for all but five of William Monroe’s points as the Greene Dragons defeated George Mason, 54-46, on Friday night to move into a tie for first place in the Bull Run District standings with the Mustangs.

After holding a four-point lead at halftime, the Dragons stormed out of the locker room and scored eight of the first 10 points to grab a double-digit lead. Williams and Faulkner asserted themselves in the post and were nearly unstoppable in the paint.

“It was our game plan to get the ball to Markel and Markel,” William Monroe coach Mike Maynard said. “They’re pretty gifted in there and we went inside early.”

After scoring his 20th point, Williams landed awkwardly and left the game with an ankle injury. Not soon after the injury, Faulkner picked up his fourth foul. With Williams on the bench with an injury and Faulkner one foul away from disqualification, somebody needed to pick up the slack on offense for the final eight minutes.

Enter Gary Morris. The junior filled the void by scoring 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Every time the Mustangs would try to mount a comeback, Morris answered with a timely bucket.

“I just thought that the whole team needed to pick it up and not just me,” Morris said. “We needed to play as a team to get the W.”

Mason made a final run to make things interesting in the final two minutes. Dimitrios Venets drove the ball to lane and laid it in to cut the Monroe lead to six. On the ensuing possesion, Philippe Griffiths buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring the Mustangs to within four. The combination of Faulkner and Williams went 6 of 7 from the free-throw line down the stretch and each picked up a pair of key defensive rebounds to seal win for the Dragons.

“What a basketball game,” Maynard said. “We played hard the entire game. The Strasburg loss woke us up and we’ve been a different team since.”

The contest marked the final home game for five Monroe seniors. Faulkner, Jordan Gentry, James Kirby, Stacey White, and Lamar Nelson each took the court for the final regular season game in Stanardsville. This current class has seen a lot of change in their time at Monroe and have laid the foundation for future success.

“This is a really special group,” Maynard said. “Seeing those guys getting called out for senior night teared up my eyes. I get really attached to the kids.”

With the win, William Monroe ties George Mason at the top of the Bull Run District standings. On Monday night, the Mustangs will take on Manassas Park and the Dragons will travel to Rappahannock. If both teams win, there will be a one game playoff Wednesday night to determine the district’s No. 1 seed.

“I’m just glad that we’re in the race and contending for the title,” Morris said.

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