Lions don’t let Bruceton enjoy upper hand

Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:00 pm

By RANDY CAVIN
Press Sports
An early deficit hardly bothered Dresden’s boys.
Now, the No. 1 seed will take on the home team for the top prize.
The No. 1-seeded Lions got an early scare from Bruceton before taming the Tigers with a 59-40 win in the semifinals of the District 13A Tournament Friday night at Clarksburg. Dresden earned a date with Clarksburg in Monday night’s finals.
Bruceton held an 11-8 lead at the end of the first period and made it five-point game to start the second before the Lions took a bite out of the Tigers and ended their hopes for a chance to play in the finals.
Dresden went on a 13-point run and outscored Bruceton 13-to-5 in the period. Tyler McPeak led the way with seven of his game-high 17 points.
The Lions had four players to reach double figures in scoring thanks to some fast-break opportunities. Austin Daniel and Joseph Sipes each scored 14. Gatlin Hatchel added 12 for the Lions.
“When they spread out, we got some layups,” Dresden head coach Tommy Dilday said. “That is where our strength is — getting it inside. That is what we did. We were bound and determined to do it in the second half. Austin finally got going in the second half. He is a big key to our team when he can score.”
The Lions defended the Tigers 3-point shooting as Bruceton went on a long-range shooting spree in the second half but hit only four. With Bruceton missing so many shots, the Lions set up for the long rebounds. Bruceton shot 22 percent from the field for the game.
“We did not play well, but the kids defended hard and finally we rebounded,” Dilday said. “We were able to scrape it out when they spread out and took care of the ball late anyway.”
Bruceton made it a four-point game early in the third on Haden Williams’ 3-pointer. Thanks to Bruceton’s 3-point shooting being off of target for the rest of the period, the Lions were able to extend the lead on an eight-point run.
“They shoot a lot of threes, and we knew that coming in,” Dilday said. “We did a pretty decent job on them most of the time in the third.”
Both teams turned it up a notch on offense in the fourth. Bruceton put up 19 points on the scoreboard with the help of three 3-pointers. Dresden found its groove as well, but on the free throw line. The Lions hit 18-out-of-25 attempts from the line and outscored the Tigers 26-19 in the period.
Dresden is now 22-7 on the season and Bruceton falls to 14-12. Published in The WCP 2.21.12