Shared from the 3/7/2016 El Dorado  eEdition

Dragons fell to ‘better’ team in semifinal

MARMADUKE - The Junction City Dragons' postseason run was ended by a juggernaut in the Class 2A state semifinals Saturday.

Junction City was outlasted by the Earle Bulldogs 74-54.

"They were just better than us. They are a very talented team. They have good leaders. They're talented at every position," Junction City Coach Kendall Hutcheson said. "It wasn't a game where we lost it, Earle came out and won the game. Earle was hungry after losing last season in the state semifinals, and they played like it."

Earle led 22-16 after one quarter. In the process, the Bulldogs set the tone for this affair.

"We got behind by 10 at the start of the game," Hutcheson said. "We then cut it to three late and ended up being down by six at the end of the quarter."

The Bulldogs led 41-27 at the half. Junction City - a three seed from the south - was unable to rally in the third. Heading into the fourth the Dragons trailed 59-42. Earle, which has been on of the top teams in 2A all season, didn't allow Junction City to make a run in the fourth. The Dragons were upended in what was their fifth consecutive state semifinals appearance.

"My kids came out and played hard. Earle was knocking down threes. When you have players making threes, and you can penetrate and rebound like they did, they're tough to beat," Hutcheson said. "They had a few more weapons than we did. They had a lot of depth. They were really athletic at every spot."

Hutcheson and the Dragons were unhappy about the season ending loss. But they took pride in their gritty performance.

"After it was over I told my players they didn't lose that game, Earle just won it. I believe the players understood that. They were proud of their effort and I was, too. I don't think many people had us picked to make it past the first round," Hutcheson stated. "For us to make the semifinals for a fifth straight year with a young lineup on the floor, that's pretty good. We were led by a great player in Tyrus Grayson who did a great job. I'm proud of the way he led us and how he adjusted his game.

"I'm extremely proud of the team's effort. How they played against Earle and how they represented us."

Grayson led Junction City with 19 points, Jerrodney Tubbs scored 15, and Keelan Ford finished with nine.

Earle had the game-high scorer in Marcus Brown who had 24 while Donta Garrett scored 14.

See this article in the e-Edition Here