Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The York Institute Dragonettes are headed to the District 5/AA Championship after taking down Jackson County 63-26.
York got off to a great start at both ends of the floor, as they opened the game on a 24-0 run before the Lady Devils scored the last basket of the first. Even with that, the Dragonettes found themselves holding a 22-point lead.
The second quarter saw Jackson County find a little more success on offense, but they couldn’t slow down York, as the Dragonettes took a 39-11 lead into the halftime break.
The third quarter continued to see York pull away, as they outscored Jackson County 20-8 to take a 59-19 lead into the fourth, and it was all she wrote from there as the Dragonettes clinched their spot in the championship game with a 63-26 win over the Lady Devils of Jackson County.
The hot start really set the tone for the game, as it allowed the Dragonettes to play more players and get some rest for their starters after an already long season.
And it becomes even more difficult when you factor in that head coach Michael Green has already lost senior Laci Patton for the remainder of the season.
“The rest part is hard because we’ve only got three players on the bench,” Green said. “Even in games like this, we’ve still got two starters on the floor…we stressed coming out strong defensively from the tip, and we were hoping the offense would take care of itself.”
Now the Dragonettes await the winner of Monterey-Sequatchie County, but despite their dominant win, Green still sees plenty to work on, specifically on the defensive end.
“We still want to buckle down more defensively,” Green said. “I’ve really buckled down, since I’ve been back, about communicating and guarding ball screens…I’ve told them and told them that you’re going to have off-nights defensively, and if you’re not solid defensively, that’s how you get put out.”
