The Dragons hit the road on Jan. 25 to face off versus the red hot Vandegrift Vipers and their star forward Greg Brown III. Many people had this game marked as one of the most highly anticipated games of the year, and it did not disappoint. In the end Round Rock pulled the win out by a narrow margin of 62-57, despite Brown going for 31 points and 17 rebounds.

“The atmosphere of this game was at an all time high,” senior Carter Ford said. “The opportunity to play against one of the best players in the country gives you that added boost. The adrenaline was rushing all throughout me.”

Round Rock could not miss in the first quarter. After shooting 6 of 8 from three point range,  including a trio from Ford, the Dragons shot out to a six point lead, 20-14. Ryan Ward, Jack Peterson, and Will Isaac added several big buckets to keep the Dragons out front.

“We’ve been grinding all week long,” Ford said. “With the season winding down, we had this game marked on the calendar. It provided a big test for our team, and I’m proud of the way we played tonight.”

The Dragons continued their hot shooting all throughout the second and third quarter, splashing threes and throwing down slam dunks from everywhere, but Vandegrift was not going to make it easy for the Dragons to capture their eighth district win. As the game entered the fourth quarter, the score was 46 all.

“Coming into Vandegrift, we knew that we had to slow down Greg Brown,” Ward said. “All we had to do was cut the head off the snake. We played our very best defense, and ended up holding him to a season low in points.”

The Dragons escaped one of the most hostile environments of the season with a win 62-57. Carter Ford capped the big win with a tremendous 28 point game shooting lights out from the three point line. With the win, Round Rock eclipsed the 20 win mark for the first time since 2009 and moved into second place in district right behind Hendrickson.