Midway through season, Dragons eye their first playoff berth since 2015

Round Rock earns sixth win of season, placing them second overall.

Connor Ellinor

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Drew Tiritilli

With five straight wins, Ryan Ward and Carter Ford look to ignite the Dragon Basketball playoff run.

As the Dragons are winding down the first half of district play, Round Rock finished off the first half of the season with a crucial win over Vista Ridge 68-45 to keep them in the thick of the playoff hunt. Coming off a two game losing streak, the longest one of the season, the Dragons needed a serious turnaround, and they got it versus Vista Ridge.

“We need to continue to play Round Rock basketball,” senior point guard Ryan Ward said. “If we do that, I feel like we could compete with anyone and possibly run the table.”

Vista Ridge came out swinging, starting the game on a 21-9 run behind hot shooting and stout defense. Round Rock Head Coach Brent Murphy quickly gathered his squad and helped them get back into the game. Ryan Ward was absolutely lights out from the three point line making 4 of 5 in the first half, giving the Dragons an eight point lead at the half.

“After Vista’s big start to the game, we had to calm down and play our game,” Ward said. “It always starts on defense, and tonight was no different. We started to play really good defense and all of a sudden, our offensive game opened up and shots started to fall.”

The Dragons broke the game open in the third quarter extending their eight point lead up to 14 points. Ward continued with hot shooting and distributed the ball efficiently allowing shooters Carter Ford and Seth Ford to get going. Will Isaac chipped in with several blocks to help the Dragons get their transition game going.

“It feels really good to get our sixth win considering we are coming off a two loss skid,” sophomore Seth Ford said. “The win really boosted our confidence and will help us get ready for the second round of district play.”

Ward finished the game as the leading scorer with 28 points while Carter and Seth added a combined 22 to propel the Dragons to their sixth district win. Round Rock finishes 6-2 at the turn, their best record in five years,  placing them second in district right behind undefeated Hendrickson at 8-0.