Junction City ready to take on England

Junction City didn’t blink after having its 16-game winning streak snapped by Spring Hill in the district tournament final. The Lady Dragons stormed back to win the regional, avenging the loss with a 58-52 victory over the Lady Bears Saturday night.

Coach Henry Harrell’s squad will advance to the next level tonight when they meet England in the first round of the Class 2A State Tournament at Carlisle. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Junction City brings a 19-4 record into the game while the fourth-seeded Lady Lions are 24-10. England finished third in the 2A-South conference behind Bigelow and Poyen.

Harrell said Sunday he had yet to develop a scouting report. But, the Lady Dragons lost to England a year ago.

“Normally, they’re a good, well-coached team,” Harrell said. “They shoot the ball pretty good. They have a very good press. They like to get out and run and are very aggressive. We’ll have our hands full trying to beat them.

“We’ll have our work cut out for us. Even though they’re going in as a four seed and we’re a one seed, that doesn’t always mean that much. Any given night, anybody can go down.”

Junction City just played three days ago. But, Harrell said he doesn’t mind playing on the first day of the state tournament.

“After you win, you don’t want to take that much time off,” he said.

“We’re ready to get back on the court. I think the kids are looking forward to it. The thing about it, I don’t think we’ll be scared to play. We’ve played a lot of close games. I think we know how to handle pressure now. We don’t panic if we get behind. We know how to bounce back.”

Like Spring Hill, England is perennially a fullcourt, pressure defensive team. The Lady Dragons played the Lady Bears three times in the past month and should be used to handling a press.

“If we can get the ball up the floor, get it past halfcourt, we think we can run our offense and we’ll be very effective getting the ball down low,” said Harrell.

The Lady Dragons advanced to the second round of the Class 3A Tournament last year. A lot of those players return and Harrell said that experience will be important.

“We’ll try to take it one game at a time because there’s no tomorrow if you lose,” he said. “I want them to enjoy this experience and enjoy the time that we’re there. There’s no guarantee you’ll ever get back. We’re looking forward to playing our best and whatever happens, happens.”