MOUNTAINBURG (KFSM)- In Tuesday’s game against Union Christian, Mountainburg’s leading scorer, Alex Matlock, took a hit to the head in the first half of the game. The injury sidelined him for most of the 2nd quarter. His absence early on in the game greatly affected the Dragons.
"He’s our leading scorer," said Mountainburg head coach Michael Mcdonald."When he’s not on the floor other guys are you can tell trying to question alright who’s going to step up and who’s going to make some plays. So when he’s not out there it definitely makes things harder for us."
When Matlock returned to the game after halftime the Dragons were down 18-4. But the senior, who averages almost 20 points per game, did what he has done for his team all season. He went on to ignite the offense, leading a second-half comeback to defeat the Eagles 39-35 in overtime.
"He came out of the second half and probably hit three or four threes," said Mcdonald. "He really got us going, and kind of got the crowd into it and then we fed off that and then pulled it out."
Matlock’s effort in that game is nothing new. The senior has been a key leader for the Dragons since transferring from Fayetteville his sophomore year. Even though it was an adjustment going from A 7-A to 2-A school Matlock’s teammates helped him through the transition.
"I moved here and my first year I really didn’t get to play much," said Matlock. "Last year and this year I was able to step out and be a leader. But, overall I just love playing for these guys senior Quency Pixley he’s been a good teammate to me and they welcomed me."
Matlock and Mountainburg are hoping to make a deep play-off run, but right now they are just approaching the season one game at a time.
"Mainly our goal this year, I would kind of like to go to state," said Matlock. "But, we do have to go through district regionals to get there first, so we are taking it a game at a time."
