Young Dixie Players Step up Against Jets

Dixie continues their winning ways due in large part to the way that the young players are stepping up in the early part of the season.  After losing senior Matt Isaacs, Dixie needed someone to step in and replace his points and his presence on the court.   The Greyhounds have 3 wins a row since losing Isaacs and have not missed a beat.  This week the team played Franklin Monroe, a CCC team that is a perennial league challenger.  But the win was not easy.

Due to water damage to the gym floor at Franklin Monroe, the game was played in their old gymnasium.  A smaller gym where the close quarters helped lead to a more physical game.   Dixie got off a to a slow start, allowing Franklin to grow a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The Jets got down the floor in the hurry and beat Dixie to the hoop for some easy baskets.  The team had to play catch up from there and only gained a lead with about 3 minutes to go.   Although the team started slow, they finished strong to lay claim to their 3^rd victory in a row. 

The second quarter was even and Franklin Monroe maintained a 10 point lead up 27-17 at the break. Freshman Cody Grubb got a timely basket from a stick back right before time ran out to cut the lead from 12 to 10.  In the third quarter, Dixie made up ground – but the Jets still lead.  Logan Watts had another strong 4^th quarter for Dixie and also Griffin Moore - who scored 6 points in a row contributed to the Greyhound 18 point 4^th quarter which put them over the Jets.  Dixie had come back for a 43-40 win.

“They just beat us down the floor in transition in the first quarter, but after that it became a physical half- court game with both teams playing hard man to man defense”, commented Coach Waggoner, “It was two games in a row where we put together a strong 4^th quarter”, he continued, “Logan Watts hit some nice shots as did Griffin Moore – he did a good job of getting open and making his mid-range shots.  Those two scored 14 of our 18 points in the 4^th quarter.  And this is two games in a row where Logan Watts stepped up big in the 4^th quarter.  We just hit some shots and that fueled our offense.  And that seems to be our theme this year, we will miss some shots during stretches in games, then we will find the basket and score in a hurry. I tell the kids once you see it go it in a couple of times, then you feel better and get more confident. They had scouted us pretty well and took some stuff away, but we also tweaked our offense and that helped us comeback. “

Finally, “We are 3-0 without Matt [Isaacs] and we will take that. We are doing things a little different than if we had him in the lineup.  And the kids are responding.  Those are some nice wins – I mean this is a decent Franklin Monroe team, they barely lost in the 4^th quarter to [undefeated] Tri-Village.   I am thrilled with the way our kids have played since then – I feel good about this team. “

Leading scorers for Dixie: Luke Bowling 12, Logan Watts 14 (8 in 4^th quarter), Griffin Moore 8 (6 in 4^th quarter) Seth Benner 5.

Next week Dixie plays both Newton and Madison.  On Newton, “Steve Fisher is there.  We expect to see  2-2-1 pressure and a half court zone. Their team will be prepared. But if we play well we will have a chance. “