By Jeffery Gibert
West Potomac Senior, DigitalSports Intern
An inspired Lee squad gave defending Virginia AAA state champion T.C. Williams a tough game Thursday night, but it was the Titans who rallied for a 72-68 victory on the road.
“It was their home, they were hyped, they were ready to come out and they were hitting tough shots,” said Titan senior guard Edward Jenkins, who scored a game-high 19 points. “So we had to fight back and just get the ‘W’ … period.”
The game was tightly contested throughout, keeping all of the fans on the edge of their seat.
After a three-pointer by junior Fenan Woldu (nine points) put the Lancers ahead 7-4 and got the Lee fanatics crazed, Jenkins led the Titans on a quick, 6-0 spurt that gave T.C. Williams the lead and somewhat quieted the crowd.
“They wanted the game to get hyped,” said Titan senior guard Gavin Peterson (17 points). “They wanted to get the crowd into it, but we don’t even worry about that.
“We just play; that’s what we were born to do.”
Lancer senior Dimitri Sakellarides (11 points) pulled the Lancer within one point early in the second quarter after he drained a three-pointer, but what would transpire on the way back down the court ended up being a big blow to the Lancers.
The referee called a double technical on a Lee and a T.C. Williams player, but because it was the second such call against Lancer senior Frank Holloway, Jr. during the game the standout forward — who is also Lee’s leading scorer this season — was immediately ejected.
The Titans took advantage of his absence and built a quick, eight-point lead, but right when it looked like they were about to run away with the game Lancer junior Walter Griffin (15 points) exploded. Griffin scored nine second-quarter points to give Lee a narrow, 30-29 lead at half time.
“He told us that we have to play our ball,” Jenkins said of Coach Julian King’s half time speech. “We weren’t really playing our ball. We were playing their ball, so we let them get the lead at half.”
Added Peterson: “We just have to play with heart.”
In the second half, the Lancers kept up the intensity. Holloway’s replacement, senior Jose Mejia (13 points) stepped up big, drawing three charges and hiting key shots. Going into the fourth quarter, with Lee leading 44-42, the Titans’ 61-game Patriot District win streak looked to be in jeopardy.
But co-captains Jenkins and Peterson would not let their team fall. The duo combined for 20 of the team’s 30 fourth-quarter points. They hit the clutch shots when they needed to, and Jenkins made the tough lay-ups even when he got fouled.
“That’s just weight room.,” Jenkins said. “That’s what I do. I stay in the weight room. I’m small, and I know I have to go in there tough, so I just hit the weights and I just go up strong and hopefully I finish … and I do finish most of the time.”
The Lancers had a late surge to try to send the game into overtime — hitting three or four three-point attempts in the last :35 seconds, including one that brought them within two points with :04.8 remaining — but Peterson connected on two of his 10 fourth-quarter free throws to seal the victory.
“That’s what we do,” Peterson said. “We weren’t even worried about it.”
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