Junction City to face Brinkley

News-Times Staff

It’s likely that the fans in attendance for Junction City’s first round Class 2A State Tournament game against the Brinkley Tigers will be treated to a surplus of highlights.

The reason being is both combatants are extremely athletic and prefer to compete in a fast-pace style of game.

Dragon coach Kendall Hutcheson compared the Tigers to Bearden, except Brinkley wants to compete at a higher tempo.

“They do a very good job in what they do. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on you,” he stated. “If you don’t protect the rim, you’re going to be in trouble.”

Hutcheson expressed that the No.4 seed from the East Regional is by no means a slouch.

“They’re a very athletic team. They’re a very good team. They have one of the best players in their conference in DeQuan Green. He’s a very physical player. He is about 6-1, 220 plays hard, is active around the basket, and handles the ball well,” he said. “Everything runs through him on offense. Defensively, they’re solid. They will show you a man, a 1-3-1, or a 1-2-2. They play hard. They crash the boards offensively and defensively. If you don’t protect the boards, you’ll get dunked on. “

Brinkley uses a rotation of players who are capable of giving their opposition problems.

“Dequan Graham is 6-2, 180 plays around the rim, will shoot outside some, but really does a good job of attacking the basket. Demarcus Hinton is 6-4, 185 and he’s a beast on the boards. If you don’t block out he’ll come in, catch it and hammer it on you,” Hutcheson said. “Their point guard is DeShaun Brent. He’s 5-8 and leads that team. He can shoot it, and attack the rim. Eric Harrell is a good shooter. He’s a good player. DAngelo Horton comes off the bench and does a good job. He really sparks them. They have some good players. They’re extremely athletic. They have good size to them. It’s going to be a true test to start the tournament.”

Brinkley is not only talented, but it is a battle-tested squad. Qualifying for the tournament from the East Regional is a daunting task.

“They’re a four seed from that region. You place Brinkley in some of the other regions and they’re definitely not a four seed. They competed for their district championship against Clarendon,” Hutcheson said. “They’ve battled all year long and have played in a lot of close games. They have tournament experience and they’re a lot better than a four. It’s going to be a physical, tough, basketball game.”

Facing a team that’s of high-quality and accustomed to playing elite opposition, it’s imperative that the Dragons assert themselves.

“We gotta play our basketball. We can’t sit around and be stale. We have to attack. We must make sure we’re passing and cutting. We have to make sure we’re getting to the paint. If they pack it in on us we have to knock down our jumpers,” the coach stated.

“But for us, the key is defense. We have to play great help defense. We have to play extremely good defense to make sure we keep them off the boards.”

The Dragons are 25-1 overall and champions of the South Regional. However, Junction City’s lone defeat was actually a heaven-sent development.

“I believe the trip to Emerson and getting beat by Emerson was a good thing for us. We’ve played much better ball since then, compared to the two weeks prior to that game. It brought us down to Earth. It taught us that if we don’t come out focused to play your best ball, you can get beat on any given night. That loss helped us become more focused. We needed that.”

Overall, Junction City must be ready to play from start to finish of this contest, as Brinkley is not the typical four seed.

“They are a very solid team. They are a talented team,” the coach stated. “They like to run up and down the floor and push the ball and go rim-to-rim a lot like we do. So it should be an interesting game.”

Tipoff is scheduled for this evening at 8:30 at Pangburn High School.