Dougherty basketball tops Monroe two times

ALBANY — Both the boys and girls basketball teams from Monroe are ranked among the top 10 teams in Class AAA, but Friday night crosstown rival Dougherty stopped the Tornadoes and won both games.

The Dougherty boys took a 60-55 win while the Dougherty girls won 60-53 in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Dougherty High School.

The games were sold out 30 to 40 minutes before the beginning of the girls game with hundreds of people left standing outside at about 5:30.

The boys game was an intense battle from start to finish. Monroe held a slight lead at the half and pushed that lead to 34-29 early in the third quarter before the Trojans, led by junior guard Jai’on Burns, went on a 12-0 run to put Dougherty up 41-34. The third quarter ended with a 41-36 lead for the Trojans and added another basket to start the fourth to push the lead to nine. However, the Tornadoes weren’t done and pushed back until Justin Burns hit one of two free throws to give the Tornadoes a 52-51 lead with less than two minutes to play.

Jai’on Burns gave Dougherty a 55-52 lead with a basket and Dougherty had possession of the ball when Dougherty head coach Bakari Bryant called timeout with 49 seconds remaining to put together the plan to finish. But Monroe’s James Adams stole the inbounds pass and raced to the basket. He missed the lay-up while being fouled. Adams hit his first free throw and missed the second. Monroe was then forced to foul to try and get possession. Jacob Stallworth hit one of two free throws and then Jai’on Burns nailed four straight to secure Dougherty’s win.

“Rivalry games are always tough, no matter how much talent is on the team,” said Bryant. “It becomes more of a mental game because of what is at stake. Nowadays social media plays a major part in a game like this. In the past, we were used to being on the bad side of the stick in games like this. Toward the end of the game, I felt like we were in control but tried many times to give it away. I always tell my guys that college coaches want players that can score on all three levels, make timely plays, and play great late,” the coach said. “I think we made timely plays by hitting our free throws down the stretch but we didn’t play great late. Those are the things you have to do to become a championship team. I’m appreciative of my guys’ effort and the win but never satisfied. We’ve got work to do.”

Jai’on Burns led all scorers with 21 points for the Trojans while teammate Kaleke Singletary-Jinks put in 12 and Maurice Davis added nine. Andrico Jackson led Monroe with 15 points, Lorenzo Still scored 11 and Justin Burns added 10.

This is Dougherty’s fourth win in their last five games after playing a stretch among some of Georgia’s strongest basketball teams. Their record now stands at 7-8 on the season but 3-0 in Region 1-AAA. Monroe is now 11-5 on the season and 2-1 in the region. Both teams are scheduled to play Monday as part of the MLK Holiday Classic at Monroe.

In the girls game, Monroe jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the first quarter but three personal fouls against point guard Saniyah Graham sent her to the bench and pushed Monroe’s Cierra Lunsford out of her position underneath the basket to run point guard.

Monroe’s De’Asjha Johnson swished a three to open the second quarter and push the Lady Tornadoes out to a ten-point lead at 18-8, but midway through the quarter Dougherty’s D’Asia Simmons hit a three then added a free throw to close the gap to 20-12. The Lady Trojans kept edging closer as Monroe could not get the ball into the paint and were shooting three-point shots that wouldn’t fall. At the end of the quarter, Dougherty’s Jatiana Chambers picked off a Monroe pass and raced to the basket for two points as the buzzer sounded to close the gap to just one point, 25-24.

The third quarter was much of the same and Monroe held a 39-36 lead going into the fourth quarter. Monroe led 53-47 with just over three and a half minutes to play but the Lady Trojans scored the final 13 points of the game with baskets from Chambers, Jacqueline Buchanan, and Charity Bellamy to win 60-53.

“It was all about execution,” said Dougherty girls head coach Khadijah Ali. “We knew that Monroe’s post players were in foul trouble so we thought if we went into the lane they would back off and give us the shot because they didn’t want to foul out. All we had to do was make the shots and fortunately, we did.”

Jatiana Chambers and Jacqueline Buchanan each scored 15 to lead the Lady Trojans. Charity Bellamy added 12 points and D’Asia Simmons put in 9. Buchanan led the rebounding with 12 while Bellamy pulled down nine. Chambers had six assists and six steals.

The Lady Trojans are now 7-7 on the season and 2-0 in the region. Monroe’s loss ends their nine-game winning streak and leaves their season record at 12-4 and 2-1 in the region. The Lady Trojans are off until next Friday when they host Thomasville while Monroe will play Early County Monday in the MLK Classic.

Also Friday night on the west side of Albany, the Westover Patriots won a region battle with Cairo 75-54. Jeremiah Waters scored 24 points to lead the Patriots. Kemari Leverette and Traevion Williams each scored 14 and Anthony Milton added 11. Westover’s girls also won, 54-24.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]