Radium Middle caps perfect 11-0 season, wins area championship

ALBANY — “To be the man, you have to beat the man,” said Radium Springs Middle School boys basketball coach Chico Brown.

Those were Brown’s thoughts after the Panthers just capped a perfect 11-0 season Thursday night with a win against rival Merry Acres, 71-49, in the middle school title game, beating longtime “top dog” of junior high sports in Albany, coach A.B. King.

“It feels good to get this win,” Brown said. “The kids stayed level-headed and we did it.”

Led by Markenon Vangure (18 points), Shannon Saunders (16) and Kedar Emmerson (13), the Panthers won their first middle school area title since 2000. Jaylen Bell added four steals and Brentavious Dyson swiped three.

Merry Acres did, however, beat Dougherty for the girls title.