Lee County starts slow but overwhelms Monroe, 64-50

ALBANY — Monroe’s Nemiah Tinch swished a three from the corner to put the Golden Tornadoes up 10-0 to begin Saturday’s game against Lee County in the annual Tip-Off Classic but the Trojans from Leesburg went on a 17-2 run to end the first quarter and beat Monroe 64-50 in the first game of the season.

The Trojans took their first lead of the game, 14-12, on a three from Braylon Chaney. The junior shooting guard swished another three just before the buzzer to give the Trojans a 17-12 lead at the end of one.

Trojan fans got a treat in the second quarter when Chaney threw up an alley-oop to all-state forward Josiah Parker who slammed the ball in, to the crowd’s delight. The Trojans controlled the game 36-23 at the half and Monroe’s five starters stayed on the bench in the third, giving the Trojans a 47-34 lead heading into the final quarter.

Justin Burns and the Monroe offense picked up momentum in the final quarter and the Tornadoes trailed by only nine when Burns slammed home a dunk with six minutes to play. A three from Zacorey Peterson closed Lee County’s lead to 51-46 but that was as close as Monroe could get.

Parker led the Trojans with 22 points and Chaney added 16 for the winners. Lorenzo Still led the Tornadoes with 13 points and Burns followed with 12.

Lee County will travel to Sumter County Friday in a non-region matchup. Monroe will host Terrell County on November 28th.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]