Boys BB: (3A) Waynesboro 48 (2A) R E Lee - Staunton 47 - FINAL
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BOYS BASKETBALL: Waynesboro 48, Robert E. Lee 47.
De’Tajh Smith with three free throws with 16.5 seconds left to lift the Little Giants to a huge upset.
2nd loss of the season for the Leemen - the other one an OT loss at East Rock - but this is the first one with Vaughan in the lineup.
Sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come....poor free throw shooting
De’Tajh Smith with three free throws with 16.5 seconds left to lift the Little Giants to a huge upset.
2nd loss of the season for the Leemen - the other one an OT loss at East Rock - but this is the first one with Vaughan in the lineup.
Sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come....poor free throw shooting
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Giants pull off upset against Leemen
Buy Now
MICHELLE L. MITCHELL/ THE NEWS VIRGINIAN Jacob Freeman (42) shoots for two during the game at Robert E. Lee in Staunton on Thursday evening.
STAUNTON — Waynesboro pulled off the biggest upset of the 2017-18 boys’ basketball season Thursday night, and it was made even sweeter coming against the Little Giants’ biggest rival.
De’Tajh Smith hit three free throws with 16.5 seconds remaining to give the Giants a stunning 48-47 victory over Robert E. Lee in an intense nondistrict clash in the Paul Hatcher gym.
Waynesboro wasn’t given much of a chance against the defending state champions, but the Giants showed no fear as they went toe-to-toe with the uninspired, and for the most part, disinterested Leemen.
The Giants fell behind 19-8 early in the second quarter after Lee had a 13-0 spurt bridging the first and second quarters. But Waynesboro simply refused to fold to its intercity foe.
Waynesboro cut the deficit to 28-19 at the break and only trailed 39-34 going to the fourth quarter after a 7-0 closing run.
Then came the fourth-quarter fun, especially for Smith, who was academically ineligible for the first semester. After Lee managed to push its margin to 43-36, Smith hit four consecutive free throws that pulled the Giants within 43-40.
Lee’s Jayden Williams had three points for a 46-40 lead with two minutes left, but for the Leemen, who struggled all night from the floor, they did not connect again from the field.
Smith drilled a 3-pointer that cut the deficit in half with 1:49 remaining. After Lee’s Jarvis Vaughan missed the front end of a one-and-one, Vaughan was called for goaltending on the other end as the Giants suddenly trailed 46-45 with 1:13 on the clock.
After each team exchanged empty possessions, Lee’s Jalen Henderson was fouled with 35.2 second left. Poor foul shooting again hampered the Leemen, as Henderson only made 1-of-2 to leave the door open.
Smith let a 3-pointer fly from the left wing, only to be fouled by Jahleel Pettiford. The senior hit nothing but net on all three attempts to give the Giants their first lead since late in the first quarter.
“I knew I had to hit those shots for my team,” said Smith, who was 7-of-7 at the line in the fourth quarter. “I just blocked everything out and focused on the free throws.”
Lee’s last chance to avoid the major upset failed when Akadeon Napier’s 3 from the left wing hit off the front of the rim.
The lackluster Leemen did themselves in with a horrible all-around shooting performance, especially at the foul line where they were a dismal 7-of-20 for 35 percent.
“Free throws have been our Achilles heel all season,” Lee acting coach Terrell Mickens said. “We’ve had big leads in most games, and it hasn’t hurt us. Tonight we needed them.
“We simply didn’t play well,” Mickens said. “Their shots fell and our shots didn’t.”
Even though the two rivals are no longer in the same district, that didn’t take away from the intensity.
“It was a blessing to beat Lee,” Smith said. “They always think they are going beat us, but we finally got them back. I love the atmosphere of these games.”
Waynesboro head coach Sidney Diggs, who played in his share of Lee games during his playing days with the Giants, was thankful the series was kept on the schedule.
“These games are always intense and hard fought,” Diggs said. “I hope the two schools never stop playing each other.”
Smith finished with 17 points, 10 coming in the final period. Dequiondre Clark added 11.
Vaughan, who suffered a nightmare night at the foul line going 3-of-11, was the only Lee player in double figures with a game-high 17 points.
Lee’s poor play made it appear the Leemen were looking ahead to the rare opportunity to share the national spotlight Friday with Oak Hill Academy.
The Leemen wrap up another three-game week Friday when the Leemen tangle with old Valley District nemesis Spotswood at the fifth annual Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout at Rockbridge County High School.
The game against the Trailblazers is the 8:45 p.m. nightcap to a three-game slate on the first day. Prior to the Lee-Spotswood matchup at 7:15 p.m., unbeaten powerhouse and nationally no. 2-ranked Oak Hill Academy makes its first appearance at the event. Oak Hill features four ESPN Top 100 recruits in Kentucky signee Keldon Johnson, Kansas signee David McCormack, Oregon signee Will Richardson and Florida signee Keyontae Johnson. The Warriors play St. James School from Hagerstown, Maryland.
“I don’t know if the kids were looking ahead or not. We can’t dwell on what happened tonight,” Mickens said. “We have to get our attention focused on Spotswood.
The first game Friday at 5:45 p.m. pits Broadway against Greenfield School from Wilson, North Carolina, which touts North Carolina signee Coby White.
Six more games are scheduled for Saturday, including contest highlighting Stuarts Draft and Riverheads. The high-octane Cougars start the day at 11 a.m. against Floyd County, while the Gladiators play Parry McCluer at 2 p.m.
Waynesboro is back home Friday to host Turner Ashby.
“Hopefully we can carry the momentum from night through the rest of the season,” Diggs said. “This game showed what can happen when everyone plays together and takes no plays off.”
Lee’s jayvees continued to rack up lopsided victories after dominating the Giants 86-28. Kyiam Brown led the Leemen with 22 points, while Markqwan Miller added 13, and Ethan Painter and Javon Battle 12 apiece. Tavyn Strother paced Waynesboro with 10.
WAYNESBORO (48) — Clark 4 3-4 11, Moore 1 2-2 5, Brown 2 0-0 6, Cardoza 1 0-3 2, Smith 4 7-7 17, Fisher 0 0-4 0, Dalenta 2 3-6 7, D.Young, L.Young, TOTALS 14 15-26 48.
LEE HIGH (47) — Velvin 1 0-0 3, Williams 1 2-4 4, Pettiford 0 1-2 1, Henderson 1 1-2 4, Vaughan 7 3-4 17, Kelly 1 0-0 2, Napier 3 0-0 8, Castle 3 0-0 6, Elliston 0 0-1 0, Z.Brown 1 0-0 2, Simms, TOTALS 18 7-20 47.
WAYNESBORO 8 11 15 14 — 48
LEE HIGH 8 20 11 8 — 47
- By Hubert F. Grim III For The News Virginian
Buy Now
MICHELLE L. MITCHELL/ THE NEWS VIRGINIAN Jacob Freeman (42) shoots for two during the game at Robert E. Lee in Staunton on Thursday evening.
STAUNTON — Waynesboro pulled off the biggest upset of the 2017-18 boys’ basketball season Thursday night, and it was made even sweeter coming against the Little Giants’ biggest rival.
De’Tajh Smith hit three free throws with 16.5 seconds remaining to give the Giants a stunning 48-47 victory over Robert E. Lee in an intense nondistrict clash in the Paul Hatcher gym.
Waynesboro wasn’t given much of a chance against the defending state champions, but the Giants showed no fear as they went toe-to-toe with the uninspired, and for the most part, disinterested Leemen.
The Giants fell behind 19-8 early in the second quarter after Lee had a 13-0 spurt bridging the first and second quarters. But Waynesboro simply refused to fold to its intercity foe.
Waynesboro cut the deficit to 28-19 at the break and only trailed 39-34 going to the fourth quarter after a 7-0 closing run.
Then came the fourth-quarter fun, especially for Smith, who was academically ineligible for the first semester. After Lee managed to push its margin to 43-36, Smith hit four consecutive free throws that pulled the Giants within 43-40.
Lee’s Jayden Williams had three points for a 46-40 lead with two minutes left, but for the Leemen, who struggled all night from the floor, they did not connect again from the field.
Smith drilled a 3-pointer that cut the deficit in half with 1:49 remaining. After Lee’s Jarvis Vaughan missed the front end of a one-and-one, Vaughan was called for goaltending on the other end as the Giants suddenly trailed 46-45 with 1:13 on the clock.
After each team exchanged empty possessions, Lee’s Jalen Henderson was fouled with 35.2 second left. Poor foul shooting again hampered the Leemen, as Henderson only made 1-of-2 to leave the door open.
Smith let a 3-pointer fly from the left wing, only to be fouled by Jahleel Pettiford. The senior hit nothing but net on all three attempts to give the Giants their first lead since late in the first quarter.
“I knew I had to hit those shots for my team,” said Smith, who was 7-of-7 at the line in the fourth quarter. “I just blocked everything out and focused on the free throws.”
Lee’s last chance to avoid the major upset failed when Akadeon Napier’s 3 from the left wing hit off the front of the rim.
The lackluster Leemen did themselves in with a horrible all-around shooting performance, especially at the foul line where they were a dismal 7-of-20 for 35 percent.
“Free throws have been our Achilles heel all season,” Lee acting coach Terrell Mickens said. “We’ve had big leads in most games, and it hasn’t hurt us. Tonight we needed them.
“We simply didn’t play well,” Mickens said. “Their shots fell and our shots didn’t.”
Even though the two rivals are no longer in the same district, that didn’t take away from the intensity.
“It was a blessing to beat Lee,” Smith said. “They always think they are going beat us, but we finally got them back. I love the atmosphere of these games.”
Waynesboro head coach Sidney Diggs, who played in his share of Lee games during his playing days with the Giants, was thankful the series was kept on the schedule.
“These games are always intense and hard fought,” Diggs said. “I hope the two schools never stop playing each other.”
Smith finished with 17 points, 10 coming in the final period. Dequiondre Clark added 11.
Vaughan, who suffered a nightmare night at the foul line going 3-of-11, was the only Lee player in double figures with a game-high 17 points.
Lee’s poor play made it appear the Leemen were looking ahead to the rare opportunity to share the national spotlight Friday with Oak Hill Academy.
The Leemen wrap up another three-game week Friday when the Leemen tangle with old Valley District nemesis Spotswood at the fifth annual Rock the Ribbon Roundball Shootout at Rockbridge County High School.
The game against the Trailblazers is the 8:45 p.m. nightcap to a three-game slate on the first day. Prior to the Lee-Spotswood matchup at 7:15 p.m., unbeaten powerhouse and nationally no. 2-ranked Oak Hill Academy makes its first appearance at the event. Oak Hill features four ESPN Top 100 recruits in Kentucky signee Keldon Johnson, Kansas signee David McCormack, Oregon signee Will Richardson and Florida signee Keyontae Johnson. The Warriors play St. James School from Hagerstown, Maryland.
“I don’t know if the kids were looking ahead or not. We can’t dwell on what happened tonight,” Mickens said. “We have to get our attention focused on Spotswood.
The first game Friday at 5:45 p.m. pits Broadway against Greenfield School from Wilson, North Carolina, which touts North Carolina signee Coby White.
Six more games are scheduled for Saturday, including contest highlighting Stuarts Draft and Riverheads. The high-octane Cougars start the day at 11 a.m. against Floyd County, while the Gladiators play Parry McCluer at 2 p.m.
Waynesboro is back home Friday to host Turner Ashby.
“Hopefully we can carry the momentum from night through the rest of the season,” Diggs said. “This game showed what can happen when everyone plays together and takes no plays off.”
Lee’s jayvees continued to rack up lopsided victories after dominating the Giants 86-28. Kyiam Brown led the Leemen with 22 points, while Markqwan Miller added 13, and Ethan Painter and Javon Battle 12 apiece. Tavyn Strother paced Waynesboro with 10.
WAYNESBORO (48) — Clark 4 3-4 11, Moore 1 2-2 5, Brown 2 0-0 6, Cardoza 1 0-3 2, Smith 4 7-7 17, Fisher 0 0-4 0, Dalenta 2 3-6 7, D.Young, L.Young, TOTALS 14 15-26 48.
LEE HIGH (47) — Velvin 1 0-0 3, Williams 1 2-4 4, Pettiford 0 1-2 1, Henderson 1 1-2 4, Vaughan 7 3-4 17, Kelly 1 0-0 2, Napier 3 0-0 8, Castle 3 0-0 6, Elliston 0 0-1 0, Z.Brown 1 0-0 2, Simms, TOTALS 18 7-20 47.
WAYNESBORO 8 11 15 14 — 48
LEE HIGH 8 20 11 8 — 47
I did not expect Lee to lose this game, but sort of looked at it as a possible trap game. Lee looking ahead to Spotswood and not playing as well as they can. This is also a long time rivalry game and they just love to beat each other.
It could be a blessing in disguise. Lee needs to take the the limited practice time they have before postseason and work on FT shooting too. It's easy to make them when you have a big lead, but in tight games you have to rely more on practice.
Also, it's only the third close game at the end of regulation that Lee has been in. Mickens is new to being the head coach. Its different from being an assistant or player. It could be a good learning experience for him. We know the deeper it goes in postseason the tighter the games.
Yes, Mickens is the interim coach. Jarrett Hatcher is the head coach but had legal issues (which have been documented on here) prior to the start of the season.
I have only seen Lee play twice, both against East Rock. The first time they were missing Vaughn but didn't play well. ER played poorly and still won. The game at Lee was the worst ER has looked all year, no doubt Lee had something to do with that. I saw a bunch of folks on here breathing a collective sigh when the 2nd Lee vs ER score was posted and wrote the first game off to "just being without Jarvis". I don't think that's the case. Not trying to take anything away from Lee because they are the champs until someone else wins it all.
I think the Shenandoah district is interesting this year. Lee is #1 without a doubt. East Rock has shown flashes of greatness but can also lay way too many eggs. They have yet to play 4 quarters of good basketball in a game but if they do they can be very hard to handle. Wilson and Stuarts Draft are battling for the 3rd spot. Draft just wears you out with their line changes and 3 point barrage. Wilson is crafty and if they are on can be a challenge. Page county is just good enough to sneak up and bite #3 or #4 but not really a threat to the top 2. Riverheads was a rimmed out shot at the buzzer away from beating Lee but hasn't shown any consistency. The rest are definitely rebuilding.
Take all this with a grain of salt because I didn't think Lee would take it all last year. I saw them when they were down by 10 to ER late in the game at Lee and managed to fight back. I saw them down by 20 to Dan River and make a miraculous recovery. I guess the mark of a great team is winning even when ugly.
I think the Shenandoah district is interesting this year. Lee is #1 without a doubt. East Rock has shown flashes of greatness but can also lay way too many eggs. They have yet to play 4 quarters of good basketball in a game but if they do they can be very hard to handle. Wilson and Stuarts Draft are battling for the 3rd spot. Draft just wears you out with their line changes and 3 point barrage. Wilson is crafty and if they are on can be a challenge. Page county is just good enough to sneak up and bite #3 or #4 but not really a threat to the top 2. Riverheads was a rimmed out shot at the buzzer away from beating Lee but hasn't shown any consistency. The rest are definitely rebuilding.
Take all this with a grain of salt because I didn't think Lee would take it all last year. I saw them when they were down by 10 to ER late in the game at Lee and managed to fight back. I saw them down by 20 to Dan River and make a miraculous recovery. I guess the mark of a great team is winning even when ugly.
I agree with you. I don't think Lee is good enough to win it again and I did not think they could win it last year but they did. They may bounce back big time tonight but I think Spotswood will hand them their 2nd loss in a row. I don't see them play much, but Since the old man retired, I've seen a big difference in how they play, especially on the defensive side.
Oh okay, thank you. It's none of my business I jus wasn't sure. Hope the situation is resolved in the best manner possible.
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