Hounds Scalp Mohawks

The Dixie Greyhounds began the new year on the right foot with a victory over the Madison Mohawks.   Dixie got off to a slow start, allowing Madison 8 unanswered points to start the game – but were able to finish strong.  Dixie ended 2012 with a 54-35 victory over Newton and this extends their winning streak to 4 games.

Dixie seemed a bit lethargic in the early going.  Madison was able to spot up some outside shooters and connect from the perimeter for the lead.  Dixie played man to man defense, Madison would stay in a 2-3 zone for almost the entire night.  About midway thru the quarter, Dixie turned up the pressure to full court and started to get turnovers which then became baskets.  Holding Madison at 8, Dixie went on a run of their own and scored 20 points.  Griffen Moore and Austin Fisher scored on back to back treys to give Dixie their first lead. 

With Dixie hitting from the outside, Madison called a time out and got their players to close out on the shooters.  This slowed down the pace of Dixie scoring and Madison was able to close the gap before halftime to 7 points.    Coming out of the break Dixie went into a zone press against Madison.  They did this for the first part of the third quarter before going back into their half court man to man defense for the remainder of the game.   Madison was unable to make up any ground and were still down by 7 when they fouled Griffen Moore who was putting up a frantic last second three point shot as the quarter ended.   He calmly sank his 3 shots from the foul line to put Dixie up 39-29 as the teams entered the last quarter. 

Madison went to full court pressure in the last quarter in a last ditch effort to make a run at the Greyhounds.  But Dixie handled the pressure well and even extended their lead. Sixth man Greg Leonard gave the team some valuable minutes against the Mohawks.  He scored 8 points – 4 in the 4^th quarter and also seemed raise Dixie’s energy level on the court with his hard play – one those intangibles you don’t always see reflected in the scorebook.   He, along with Logan Watts and Griffen Moore dashed any hopes of comeback with their 4^th quarter scoring.  Dixie won handily 57-41 improving to a 6-3 record overall.   Scoring for Dixie: Fisher 7, Moore 16, Bowling 12, Benner 2, Watts 12, Leonard 8.

“I think we are good, now we are a little bit young, but we have a different mix of kids that are still finding out how to play together,” stated Coach Waggoner, “and that makes us streaky.  It seems like we are not always on the same page.  We gave them an 8 point run, then turned around and had a run of our own.  When we play together, we play well.” On Greg Leonard, “Yes, he gave us great points and great energy.  He makes things happen when he is on the court – going to the basket, getting to the ball on defense.”

Next week Dixie plays against league leading Carlisle and also Preble Shawnee.  Both games will be key games for the standings in the SWBL buckeye division.