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Friday, May 18, 2012
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Dallas' Hannah Smith, left, drives baseline during the Dragons' home finale with Lebanon Friday.
February 22, 2012
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: As of Wednesday afternoon, the Class 5A girls and boys basketball playoff brackets had yet to be set. Check back here at www.polkio.com or check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com (search for Polk County Itemizer-Observer) for updates on those brackets. You can also follow sports editor Nicole Watkins on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NicoleWatkinsIO.
DALLAS -- Dave Brautigam has seen what his Dallas girls basketball team is capable of all season long.
Now it's just time for the Dragons to put it all together -- and they'll need to do it perfectly.
Brautigam said that Dallas (7-15), should carry the No. 16 seed in the Class 5A South Region and will most likely travel to No. 1 Springfield (21-3), the defending state champ, Friday for a 7 p.m. tip in their 5A play-in contest.
"We do have to play a flawless game," Brautigam said. "We need to be able to minimize mistakes, rebound and we can't play soft."
The Dragons dropped their final two regular-season games last week, falling to Lebanon 41-33 Friday and suffering a 52-45 setback to Silverton Feb. 14.
Looking ahead to Friday, it's full go time for the Dragons.
Blair Harris
"I think that we have the mind-set that we have nothing to lose, so we're just going to go out there and we're going to go really hard, and we're just going to give it our all," senior Blair Harris, who scored a team-high 11 points in the loss to Lebanon, said.
Brautigam is hoping a tough season in a rugged Mid-Willamette Conference will aid his squad.
"I think that the advantage that we do have is that we're in the toughest league in the state, so ideally, to be optimistic, our league has helped us prepare for this game."
BOYS SET TO TRAVEL TO BEND FOR PLAY-IN: The Dallas boys squad has a tough road ahead of it -- especially when it comes to travel.
As of Tuesday morning, the Dragons (14-10) appeared to be the No. 11 seed in the Class 5A South Region and will likely travel to Bend (13-8) for their Friday play-in game, Dallas coach Jim Boutin said.
After taking the Oregon School Activities Association's No. 6 power-ranked team to the brink in a 52-50 loss to Silverton Feb. 14, Dallas ended its regular season on a high note with a 54-50 win over Lebanon Friday.
Boutin is excited about his team's chances.
"When we go into the playoffs, we're relying on our hustle and determination, so we're trying to solidify the things that we do best in practice and make sure we're doing that in games," he said.
"And they've done well... They've responded and they are sticking together. We're excited with an opportunity to get in the play-in and see what we can do, see if we can do a little damage."
Landon Hattan led the Dragons with 16 points and Brady McKinley scored 14 in Friday's win.
Against Silverton, McKinley scored a game-high 22 points and Hattan added nine.
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