The William Monroe High School boys basketball team had its season come to an end Thursday night with a 73-61 loss to Gate City in the Group A, Division II state semifinals.
William Monroe's Markell Williams had a team high 24 points in the loss. Gary Morris had 20 points. The Dragons trailed by 12 at halftime and never took after the break.
Gate City got a tremendous performance from 6-7 big man Andy Arnold. Arnold made every shot he took and finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Monroe finishes the season with a record of 24-5. The Dragons at one point this season won 18 straight games. This was William Monroe's first trip to the state playoffs since 1995.
WMHS coach Mike Maynard says, "Its a tough loss, we had dreams of winning the state championship, we fell short but we had a great season."
WMHS senior Gary Morris said, "We had a great season, I've loved playing with everybody, obviously we had dreams of going to states, winning states would have been a joy, we've seen baseball do it. We just fell short.
WMHS senior Markell Williams said, "I'm just proud of my teammates for giving an amazing effort. I love this team to death."
