By the time Dibrell could make any adjustments, Morrison was off to a 24-8 halftime lead in the second round of the 7-8 grade basketball tournament Thursday night at Warren County High School.
Despite a Dibrell rally in the third quarter, where the Wildcats scored 15 points, Morrison’s Eagles dominated the offense the entire way, handily winning the third quarter as well with 18 points and a tournament win, 47-23.
“We set the tone early with our defense,” said Morrison coach Kyle Cannon. “We worked extremely hard and played smart basketball. The boys followed the game plan perfectly.”
In a case of the usual suspects, Morrison’s power duo of Kason and Ryland Holder hit for 19 and 15 points, respectively, in the contest using the fast break and turnovers for many of their points.
The Wildcats struggled at the charity stripe as well, converting 9-of-29 for 31 percent. Morrison gave them a platter full after they realized Dibrell’s shooting from the line was off, and the Wildcats went 0-for-10 in fourth-quarter action leading to a null score in the final quarter for Dibrell. Morrison played the bench and hit for five points to round out the game.
Wildcat Aaron Ashburn was Dibrell’s top scorer, hitting for a double-digit total of 12 points. Bryson Elrod scored 6 points, Rheagan Woodlee 4 and Hagan Stewart 1 point.
Other Eagles to hit for points were Dawson Waldron with 9 and Will Hyder and Tyler Dunn both scored 2 points.
While the Eagles scoring is usually the bailiwick of the Holder brothers, Dominique Betancourt and Hyder did an outstanding job keeping the rock in the hands of the top guns, while finesse shooter Waldron kept the opposition on its toes looking out for his trey, hitting for three 3-pointers in the ballgame.
The Eagles advanced to play Centertown’s Warriors in Saturday’s championship game. Results were not available at press time.
Dibrell will face the Eastside Bulldogs to determine who will place third.