By Michael Lindsay
The trophies keep coming for the York Institute Dragons as they won their fourth consecutive region championship Thursday night by defeating Watertown, 65-45, in the Region 3-2A title game.
“I’m just so proud of the guys,” said York head coach Rodney Pile. “Watertown is on a tremendous run, and you have to give them credit. They gave us all we wanted.
“The crowd was tremendous,” Pile added. “Our pep club is second to none. Our athletic programs should be really proud; people love you and support you.”
York’s path to a fourth straight region title didn’t come without its challenges.
“We went through a lot of adversity; we started off the year 2-6,” Pile said. “That region semifinal game is the most important game you’ll play all year, and we almost let it slip through our hands. But we pulled that one out and played with a little more confidence tonight.”
York Institute was led by a pair of region tournament Co-MVPs as Heath Wattenbarger and Bryson Bilbrey shared the top honor on Thursday.
“They’ve played tremendously,” Pile said. “Tonight they made it hard on me; sometimes it’s easy to sub out. I’ve got Will Beaty on the bench, but it was hard to get him in the game because they were playing solid.”
Bilbrey led the Dragons with 18 points along with 11 by Wattenbarger. Blaine York also had 11 points for YAI.
Pace was key for York Institute Thursday as Watertown defeated Jackson County in Tuesday’s semifinal by a 34-31 margin.
“They (Watertown) have dictated the tempo,” Pile said. “Them and Jackson County got into a 31-all game, and I didn’t want to be in the 30s. I wanted to get into the 50s and see if they could score that many. We played a little matchup zone and we pushed the ball offensively. We wanted to be aggressive and attack.”
York Institute jumped out to a 10-3 lead via a Myles Leffew three-pointer four minutes into the first period.
Watertown sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer to trim their deficit to 19-11 at the end of the first period. The Purple Tigers scored first in the second period to cut York’s lead to 6 before the Dragons surged ahead by 10 points (25-15) with 5:20 left until halftime. York took a 28-19 lead into halftime.
The Dragons took control in the third period as a 9-1 run midway through the period put YAI ahead 40-23 late in the frame. Will Beaty sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give York a 43-24 lead entering the fourth quarter.
York cruised through the fourth quarter to secure their 65-45 victory over Watertown and lock up a home sectional game Monday. The Dragons have been to 5 consecutive Class 2A sectionals dating back to 2019. Two appearances came under coach Russell Tays, one by Roy Whited and now two by Rodney Pile.
“Coach Tays did a wonderful of setting all this up for us,” Pile said. “Right now, the York boys basketball player has a lot of pride and we show up for games. We’ve been to 5 straight substate games.”
York Institute will host Region 4-2A runner-up Cascade (27-6) on Monday.
“We’ve been trying to take care of ourselves,” Pile said. “Of course, we have to know what the other team does, but it’s more about what we do.”
York Institute (65): Bryson Bilbrey 18, Blaine York 11, Heath Wattenbarger 11, Will Beaty 9, Myles Leffew 9, Jackson Conatser 7
