Dresden is moving on. Gleason has finished up.
The Weakley Conunty contingent in the District 13A Tournament split their quarterfinal games on Tuesday night, Dresden winning at home and Gleason losing on the road. The Lions now advance to the semifinal round in Huntingdon on Friday and will also play in the Region 7A Tournament next week.
No. 3 seed Dresden more than doubled Bruceton in points by halftime as the Lions rolled to a 70-38 win.
Gleason senior Austin Perry did not want his high school basketball career to end Tuesday night, but No. 1 seed McKenzie had other plans by ending the Bulldogs’ season with a 57-35 decision.
The Lions will now face No. 2 West Carroll, a 78-75 winner over Clarksburg, in Friday’s semifinal round at Huntingdon High School.
Dresden 70, Big Sandy 38
The Lions had their quarterfinal game well in hand by halftime with a 39-18 lead over the Red Devils.
Head coach Tommy Dilday was pleased with his team’s effort in the elimination game.
“We played one of the better games than we have in a while,” Dilday said. “We defended well and rebounded well. That is what you have to do to win tournament games.”
Kaleb Houston led the Lions with 14 points. Austin Daniel scored 13, while Kourtney Sawyer added 12 and Brock Dilday tossed in 10 points. Austin Maxey and Joey Caldwell each scored seven points in the win.
The Lions may have a bit of an advantage heading into Friday’s semifinal game against West Carroll. Dilday said the War Eagles have two of their players injured.
“West Carroll has two kids banged up,” Dilday said. “One has a broken jaw and another has a broken hand.”
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday. McKenzie will play No. 4 seed Huntingdon in the 6 p.m. game.
McKenzie 57, Gleason 35
Perry scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds against the Rebels in their District 13A quarterfinal game, but it was not enough to overcome the top-seeded Rebels.
The Bulldogs (3-25) have had difficulties all season with scoring points, and those difficulties continued in their final game of the season.
Gleason held McKenzie to eight points in the second period, but the Bulldogs could not take advantage of McKenzie’s low-scoring output with just two points on the scoreboard in the second period.
The Bulldogs were only down 16-10 after the first frame but then found them selves behind 24-12 at the half.
Head coach Jamie Roney said his team performed his game plan well in the first half.
“Our game plan was to slow their transition game by being very patient,” Roney said. “We did that very well in the first half. McKenzie turned it up a notch early in the third quarter and we lost our composure. We got away from what was working.
“Once they built the lead, the tempo of the game turned McKenzie’s favor. Our team fought until the final buzzer sounded. Give the Rebels credit — they earned the win.”
The Rebels got their scoring act together in the third with a 22-point period and led 46-24 going into the final period where the teams scored 11 each.
Junior Alex Hahn scored nine points for the Bulldogs, while sophomore Keaton Collins added seven and junior Dakota Parsons tossed in two points.

Published in The WCP 2.14.13