William Monroe throttles Manassas Park

STANARDSVILLE — On Tuesday night, the William Monroe boys basketball team suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss to Strasburg. The defeat moved the Greene Dragons out of first place in the Bull Run District. Head coach Mike Maynard admitted that it was not his team’s best effort.

“Strasburg played well and we didn’t,” Maynard said. “You can’t take anybody lightly in basketball because anybody can beat you on any given night.”

Maynard’s message seemed to sink in as the Dragons rebounded in impressive fashion by blowing out visiting Manassas Park, 80-46, on Friday night.

Playing with a full roster is not a luxury that Monroe has been able to enjoy all season. Jordan Gentry was sidelined for the latter part of 2011 with an injury. Markel Faulkner was not in the lineup for Monroe’s game against Strasburg on Tuesday. With Gentry and Faulkner back in the lineup Friday, Maynard used mass substitutions all throughout the first half. After several minutes of play, the Dragons subbed out all five players to try to find the right combination.

“I told them that five would start and five would come in three minutes later five would come in,” Maynard said. “Whoever played the hardest would stay out on the court.”

The Monroe full-court press gave the Cougars fits early. The Dragons recorded seven takeaways in the first quarter and held Manassas Park scoreless for the opening three minutes of the contest. The Cougars finished both the first and second quarters with more turnovers than points.

“The key to the game was defense,” Maynard said. “Our half-court trap was good at times and our 2-3 zone was pretty good as well.”

The William Monroe offense was just as deadly for all 32 minutes. Monroe scored eight of the final 10 points of the first quarter to grab a 22-6 lead after eight.

Things went from bad to worse for the Cougars in the second quarter. The Dragons opened the quarter on a 14-0 run. Monroe continued to frustrate the Cougar offense as Manassas Park managed just five points the entire stanza and trailed 42-11 at halftime.

The Dragons continued to pour it on in the second half. Monroe led by as many as 44 before settling for the final 80-46 margin.

“We’re good when we play that way,” Maynard said. “It’s nice to see that we have a heart and a pulse and we’re going to keep trying to win as many games as we can.”

The scoring was well balanced as five Dragons scored in double figures. Markel Williams led the way with 13 points off the bench. Gentry scored 12 while Austin Batten and Garry Morris added 11 each. Dakwan Morris added 10 of his own as Monroe knocked down 11 3-pointers as a team.

“We’re a good team when we share the basketball,” Maynard said. “We’ve got some great shooters who had been in a slump. It really stretches the defense and allows Markel [Williams] to do work inside.”

Up next for the Dragons is a rematch with rival Madison. Monroe rallied back from 20 down to defeat the Mountaineers back on Dec. 20.