Dragons win thriller at Monticello in season finale, 84-70

The William Monroe varsity boys basketball team finished their great regular season in a thrilling game on Tuesday, February 10, on the road at Monticello. The Dragons beat the Mustangs in their first meeting and came into this one looking for the season sweep.
The first quarter started out slow for both teams. Monroe committed early turnovers and missed a bunch of open shots that would keep the game close.
Midway through the first, the score was tied at 8. Then the Dragons got a spark from guards Mike Roach and Andy Brown to separate themselves from the Mustangs. At the end of the first quarter Monroe held a slim 17-12 lead.
The second quarter begin with Monticello scoring the first seven points to take the lead at 19-17. The scoring would then go back and forth throughout the quarter until the Mustangs offense began scoring on almost every possession. 
The Mustangs shot 12 free throws in the second quarter alone, as they would grab a decent lead at 41-34 at the half.
Monticello came out in the third quarter and picked up right where they left off with a lot of scoring on offense. The Dragons quickly found themselves down by the biggest margin of the game: 50-36.
Following a timeout, Monroe went on the most important scoring run of the game, launching an 18-6 scoring run to close out the third quarter. At the end of three the Dragons were down just two at 56-54.
Throughout most of the fourth quarter, neither team was able to separate from the other as the score stayed close. But with Monroe leading—and on a small 6-0 scoring run—a Mustang flagrant foul gave the Dragons two free throws and the ball.
From that point forward the Mustangs would never regain the lead. Monroe seemed to come up with a big shot every time Monticello attempted a comeback.
Roach drained two three-pointers and was fouled on a third as he gave the Dragons their first double-digit lead of the game at ten. Monroe would finally put away the Mustangs with stellar second-half defense and offensive execution.
As the clock struck all zeros, the Dragons finished the regular season sweep of the Mustangs with a final score of 84-70.
“I am really proud of how we hung in the game and pulled it out in the second half,“ said coach Mike Maynard in an interview after the win.  “We didn’t seem to have any legs in the first half but we got our second wind early in the second.“
He also said: “Mike Roach got hot the in the fourth quarter at the right time and Mike Wims just took over the game.“
In all, leading the Dragons on the night was Wims with 29 points and 21 rebounds, and Roach finished with a great game by putting up 20 points. Also enjoying big games was Desmond Shaver with 12 and Brown with 11.
With the win, the Dragons finished the regular season tied for second in the district. But due to head-to-head wins, they got the third seed in the district tournament and faced Fluvanna Friday night at home.
In that game, they beat the Flucos without any trouble by a final score of 69-45 to advance in the tournament. At press time on Tuesday, February 17, the Dragons were about to face the host team of the tournament, the Western Albemarle Warriors.