By Michael Lindsay

The York Institute Dragons and Dragonettes hit the road to Carthage Saturday for a pair of District 6-2A matchups against Smith County as the Dragonettes won the girls game 44-29 followed by the Smith County boys winning 60-25.

Girls

The Class 2A #1-ranked York Institute Dragonettes (21-3, 6-0) wrapped up a clean sweep of District 6-2A competition Saturday night as they won at #9 Smith County, 44-29.

The win comes immediately after a 44-29 win over Cannon County the night before.

“I was interested to see how we would hold up on a back-to-back night after a hard-fought game against Cannon County,” said York head coach Michael Green. “We came out sluggish and slow but had a pretty good second quarter. The defense tightened up; defense is always going to carry us.”

Senior guard Raylee Werner led the Dragonettes with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals followed by Emma Pile and Josie Ashburn with 8 points each.

“Raylee had some good stuff tonight,” said Green.”We didn’t attack that the way we had wanted to, though. I told the girls that the only thing we can expect out of Smith County is, something different defensively. Our defense will carry us if we’ll play it like we need to.”

Smith County took control early as the Lady Owls led 14-6 after one quarter. A Dacey Claywell three-pointer early in the second extended Smith County’s lead to 17-6 with 7:19 remaining until halftime.

The Dragonettes settled in from there and reeled off a 15-3 run over the next 5:30 to take a 21-20 lead via a Werner three-pointer with 1:42 left in the second quarter. York led at the break 23-22.

“I told the girls I’m staying calm this whole way,” said Green. “We got down early here last year, too. We battled back and just got it done.”

A low-scoring third period saw York push their advantage to 31-24 entering the fourth quarter. The Dragonettes extended their lead to double digits (35-25) with 3:58 remaining and never looked back as they went on to win by a 44-29 final score.

The Dragonettes secured the #1 overall seed in the upcoming District 6-2A tournament with the victory. York’s senior class also completed a four-year undefeated run in regular season district games with the win.

Up next for the Dragonettes is a trip to Byrdstown on Tuesday to face Class 1A #9 Pickett County. Smith County is scheduled to host Lebanon.

Boys

The Smith County Owls (17-9, 5-0) won their fourth consecutive game on Saturday as they defeated York Institute (9-15, 2-4) 60-25 improve to 5-0 in District 6-2A play.

“We came out a little flat there in the first quarter, said Smith County head coach Layne Bussell. “Both teams played last night and the intensity wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we righted the ship midway through the first quarter and played better basketball. I was proud of that effort.”

Tyler Jones led the Owls with 21 points in the victory.

“Tyler was great,” said Bussell. “He got to his spots and he made shots. Tyler really stepped it up on both ends; he defended their best players. I was really proud of everybody and the decisions that we made with the ball. We made some extra passes and made sure we got the open shot.”

Smith County jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter and extended their advantage to 25-8 via back-to-back Jones baskets late in the second quarter. The Owls led 25-9 at the halftime break.

“We were really stagnant early,” said Bussell. “We weren’t running our actions, but once we scored a couple baskets and started getting downhill in transition, it changed things.”

The Owls cruised through the second half to win by a 60-25 final score.

Smith County is scheduled to host Lebanon on Tuesday and travel to Cannon County on Friday while York is set to travel to Class 1A #2-ranked Pickett County. A win on Friday for the Owls would secure the outright #1 seed in the upcoming District 6-2A tournament.

“We need to be playing our best basketball now,” said Bussell. “We played Lebanon twice this summer and lost right at the end of the game. I’m excited to see what that looks like from where we were then to where we are now. And then I’m just expecting an all-out war with Cannon County. They’re a really well-coached team and have great players.”