JC Too Much for Depleted Bears

WOODLAWN - With three starters out with illness and several top reserves unavailable as well, Woodlawn simply did not have enough in the tank last Thursday as the Junction City Dragons broke the game open early in the second half before cruising to an 82-50 victory over a depleted Bears team in a crucial 8-2A conference game at the Woodalwn Gym.Bears Coach Logan Adair said he did not find out until last Thursday morning that his leading scorer, Jude Roberts, would not be available against Junction City nor two other starters. Aiden Powell and Leo Botz, two who have been seeing a lot of action off the bench of lately, were unable to play as well.Garrett Weatherford and Jack Lephiew were the only starters available.Since Roberts usually runs the point for the team, Adair said he had to make to some emergency adjustments. He tried using Joshua Trantam at point guard while taking more of a team approach in moving the ball up the court against an aggressive Junction City defense."It's hard for those guys to adjust on such a short notice," Adair said after the game, referring to players having to take on new roles.Despite being outmanned, the scrappy Bears did put up a fight.After Junction City took a 12-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Dragons went on an 8-0 run midway through the second to open up a 28-12 lead. Woodlawn, however, ended the first half on a 9-0 run to pull to within 34-28 at halftime. Weatherford hit a 3-pointer and then converted all three free throws after he was fouled on his 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded, capping the late rally. Weatherford made 1-of-2 free throws to start the third quarter to close it to 34-29, but that was as close as it got as the Dragons went on an 18-4 run to take control of the game. They led 62-40 at the end of the third and invoked the running clock with about 4 minutes left after taking a 76-46 lead.When the game ended, Weatherford, who hit five 3's to fin...