The Fayette County Dragons J-V basketball team is heading to the State tournament after recently winning a District championship at Whetstone High School.
The Dragons played Delaware County on March 2 for the chance to advance to State.
The Dragons had a slow start in the first quarter of play, struggling to keep possession of the basketball. They were unsuccessful knocking down shots but escaped with only a two-point deficit, 10-8 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Dragons began to pick up the intensity and control the ball for most of the quarter as they pressured Delaware into forced shots. With only seconds left before the half, Gannon Adams drained a three on a pass from Rodney Ison to give the Dragons a 17-16 lead going into the half.
As the third quarter began, the Dragons continued to play with intensity, forcing turnovers and bad shots.
Adams came out of the locker room hot, scoring four more points off turnovers and knocking down a huge three that was followed by a Shandon Shadburn layup off a turnover to end the quarter with a 28-24 lead going into the final period of play.
The Dragons were eight minutes away from a District Championship and a chance to head to the Final Four!
The Dragons came out strong in the fourth with a Thomas May jump shot to give them a six-point lead. Delaware followed it up with a basket of their own to cut the deficit back to four.
The Dragons then tried to slow up play but instead turned the ball over for another Delaware basket to cut the lead to two.
On the following play, Shadburn was fouled and headed to the line to shoot two. Shadburn made the first but missed the second as Delaware got the rebound then, on a forced turnover by Ison, he made a fastbreak layup to give the Dragons a 33-28 lead.
On the following inbound play, Ison forced another turnover for a layup to give the Dragons a 35-28 lead.
Delaware and Fayette would then score on their next two possessions to make the score 39-32 with 2.4 seconds left to play.
The Dragons would then inbound the ball after a Delaware turnover to let the time expire and earn a District Title with a 39-32 victory!
The Dragons advance to the State Final Four in Hilliard on March 22 and 23 looking to bring home a Title of their own in 2019 and the second strait Title for Fayette County!
Rodney Ison led the Dragons with 12 points.
Gannon Adams scored 10 and Shandon Shadburn had nine points.
A quartet of players, Timothy Runnels, Nikki Forsha, Elijah Brown and Thomas May, each scored two points for the Dragons.
