Dresden stumbles into 2013

Posted: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 12:00 pm

By MIKE HUTCHENS
Press Sports
It certainly wasn’t the beginning to 2013 that Dresden had hoped for.
The two Lion teams started the second half of their respective seasons on the wrong foot Thursday night, digging a deep early hole in losses at Union City.
The Dresden girls suffered through a 10-minute point drought in the first half and were beaten 51-15, while the Lion boys could never fully recover from a 25-4 UC blitz to start the contest in what was ultimately a 58-45 setback.
Dresden resumes District 13A play this week, playing at Bruceton tonight and at home vs. West Carroll on Friday.
The Lady Lions began the new year hoping to show they belong in the same conversation as Union City (14-3), which is unbeaten in District 14A and has lost only to teams in higher classifications after making the state tournament for the first time ever last year.
But the Twister girls coupled their usual dominant defense with better-than-average outside shooting — led by Tory Reedy’s five 3-pointers — to win in convincing fashion.
A run of 21 unanswered points by UC from midway through the first period when Dresden went scoreless for 10 minutes essentially removed any suspense about the outcome. The 35-point mercy rule was in effect from early in the fourth quarter on.
No Lady Lion scored more than four points as the team made just six field goals for the entire game.
Reedy’s 21 points led the victors.
In the nightcap, Union City exploded out of the starting blocks with a 25-4 burst and — though they made up ground in the final tally — the Lions could never get over the hump.
The Tornadoes made 10 3-pointers in the contest — four by LaMonte Dickerson and three more by Malik Stockdale. A 14-0 flurry to start the game was punctuated by Marcus DeBerry’s steal and one-handed dunk.
When UC backed off its fullcourt pressure, however, Dresden more than held its own.
Once the Twisters backed off their fullcourt pressure that created countless easy scoring chances in the early going, the Lions methodically made things respectable in the second half.
With the host team missing its first dozen shots from the field, Dresden cut into its big deficit with a run of nine consecutive points to get within 40-29 on a bucket by Brock Dilday in the latter stages of the third period.
The Lions trailed by 15 entering the final frame but stayed within striking distance thanks to treys by Austin Maxey and Austin Daniel before Union City ended their comeback hopes with another press-fueled flurry.
Maxey led DHS with 13 points, while Dilday scored nine and both Kortney Sawyer and Kaleb Houston eight apiece. Published in The WCP 1.8.13