SOUTHEAST 7A REGIONAL: Lee makes easy work of Central to advance
By GRAHAM DUNN
The Robert E. Lee Generals had no plans to sleep walk through their Class 7A Southeast Regional semifinal against Central-Phenix City.
That road had been traveled before.
Lee dealt with a slow start and pulled way for an easy 85-59 win over the Red Devils to move into the regional finals on Tuesday.
“I thought we played well for the most part,” Lee coach Bryant Johnson said. “We had a tremendous push in the second and third quarter.”
While Lee reached the state finals year, there have been a few hiccups in previous tries, namely, the indescribable semifinal loss to Auburn two years ago.
This time there would be few problems, although there was the slow start on Thursday.
The Generals led by just four points after the first period but caught fire midway in the second, scoring 25 points in the subsequent period and adding another 31 points in the third.
“It was significant. We made 3s in the third quarter, which we hadn’t done,” Johnson said. “We needed to get some separation and we were able to get that.”
Lee placed four players in double figures led by De’Marquiese Miles who had 16 points. Jakel Williams added 13 while Demarshia Davis and Nicholas Barnes each had 11.
Xavier Carnes led Central (12-13) with 16 points.
The Generals improved their record to 30-1, a first for the program. They face rival Jeff Davis on Tuesday for the regional championship.
Central-Phenix City girls 79, R.E. Lee 28
The Robert E. Lee girls had a hard time finding the basket in their Class 7A Southeast Regional matchup with Central-Phenix City on Thursday.
In a 79-28 loss to the Lady Red Devils, the Generals managed just five points in the second half.
The loss ended Lee’s season at 7-16.
Alleya King led Lee with 12 points. Lee shot just 16 percent from the field including 0-15 in the final quarter and 0-11 behind the 3-point arc for the game.
Central (20-7) was led by Sierra Roberts with 16 points. The Red Devils will face Auburn at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at Garrett Coliseum.