By Michael Lindsay
The UC #1-ranked York Dragonettes are District 5-2A champions for the second consecutive season as they defeated host-school Monterey 63-33 in Monday’s district championship game.
“We didn’t come out the way we wanted to offensively,” York head coach Michael Green said. “Defensively, we held them to 4 field goals in 3 quarters but put them on the line too much.”
York Institute improves to 29-2 overall with the win while Monterey falls to 14-17.
Class 2A Miss Basketball finalist Reese Beaty and her sister Gabby led the Dragonettes with 18 points each. Ellie Leffew also hit double figures with 13.
Reese was named tournament MVP for her efforts in Friday’s semifinal and Monday’s championship.
“It’s definitely great,” said Reese Beaty.” There’s not another group of girls I’d want to do this with.”
Monterey was led by 11 points from Lady Wildcat all-time leading scorer Lindsey Wright.
It was Monterey who struck first as they took a 2-0 advantage over York via two Zoey Gore free throws. The Dragonettes retook the lead midway through the opening period, 4-2, before pushing ahead 16-7 by the end of the first quarter.
“Maybe we were overconfident,” Green said. “I should’ve had us better prepared for the start. We settled for jump shots and didn’t have anybody crashing the boards offensively.”
The Dragonettes locked in on both sides in the second period, outscoring the Lady Wildcats 26-9 in the frame to take a commanding 42-16 lead at halftime.
“We finally got going a little in the second quarter,” Green said. “We knew Monterey had improved a lot and were on their home court.”
After the break, York continued their stifling defense as they held the Lady Wildcats to 6 third-quarter points. The Dragonettes led 56-22 entering the fourth period, where they closed strong to win by a 63-33 final score.
Along with Reese Beaty’s tournament MVP selection, York Institute’s Raylee Werner, Ellie Leffew, Gabby Beaty and Josie Linder were named all-tournament. Monterey’s Lindsey Wright, Lydia Phillips and Abbie Sasser were also named all-tournament.
Up next for both York Institute and Monterey is the Region 3-2A tournament as both teams will host region quarterfinal matchups on Friday, Feb. 24. York Institute will host District 6-2A #4-seed Watertown while Monterey will host #3-seed Smith County.
York Institute (63): Reese Beaty 18, Gabby Beaty 18, Ellie Leffew 13, Josie Linder 6, Emy Crabtree 3, Raylee Werner 3, Emma Cooper 2
Monterey (33): Lindsey Wright 11, Zoey Gore 8, Lydia Phillips 6, Kelsi Flanigan 4, Haylee Trevathon 3, Abbie Sasser 1
