Monroe girls shake off slow start to beat Dougherty

ALBANY – It was the first time new Monroe coach Jennifer Acree faced her alma mater Tuesday night.

And Acree showed no mercy.

The Monroe Lady Tornadoes continued on their journey of exceeding last year’s state quarterfinal success as they defeated Dougherty 56-42 behind 21 points from Key Key Price and 17 points from Kelsey Davis.

“Our performance was okay,” Acree said. “We managed to pull out the win, but we have a lot of work to do.”

The boys late game was incomplete at press time.

With the score tied at five midway through the first quarter, Monroe went to full court pressure and forced Dougherty into committing turnovers.

As a result, Monroe went up 9-6 with 2:42 to go. However, the Lady Tornadoes (3-2) also turned the ball over and struggled to hit shots. Monroe went on a 5-2 run before Takiya Davis’ basket at the horn cut Monroe’s lead to 14-10.

The Lady Trojans came out in the second quarter struggling to score and turning the ball over. But Monroe was unable to capitalize as they struggled to score from the field. With a little over three and a half minutes to go in the second half, the Lady Tornadoes went on an 11-5 run to close out the first half with a 27-16 advantage. Price scored 13 of her points in the first half, while Davis led the Lady Trojans with eight first half points.

Both teams came out in the second half pushing the ball but neither could score until Tak’ya Martin hit a free throw for Dougherty with just under seven minutes to go in the third quarter. Monroe increased its lead to 33-21 when Davis scored, was fouled and converted the free throw.

The Lady Tornadoes upped their lead to 17 with 3:17 to go in the third on a 3-pointer by Stevie Stallworth and a basket from Price. Monroe went to full court pressure again, forcing Dougherty into turnovers and taking a 41-21 lead before Acree called a timeout with 2:31 to play in the third. The quarter ended with Monroe up 44-29 on a 3-pointer from Stallworth with seconds to go.

Both teams played an evenly matched fourth quarter but the Lady Trojans were unable to cut into Monroe’s lead and the Lady Tornadoes went on to win.

“We’re still in the learning phase,” Dougherty coach Charlene Jackson said. “We have a lot of inexperienced kids. I’m playing a lot of young players who haven’t yet bought into the system, but I’m pretty sure they will.”

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Davis who finished with 15 points.

MONROE BOYS 73, DOUGHERTY 44: The Tornadoes had four players in double figures, led by 14 points from Deonte Young. Napolean Harris scored 13, Kenaurtica George had 12 and Trentavious Jackson chipped in 11 points.

“I thought we really, truly played as a team tonight,” Monroe Coach Marquis Davis said. “In the first half, some of our key guys got in a little foul trouble, but I thought our bench guys really came off tonight and gave us just what we were looking for. Hopefully we can build on that.”

Both teams fought hard in the first half, but Monroe went to the locker room with a 28-20 halftime lead. Monroe was led in the first half by George’s 10 points, while the Trojans were led by Charles Porter’s eight first half points.

The Tornadoes quickly jumped out to a 39-20 lead in the third quarter thanks to baskets by Jackson and Emeshaun Offord. From that point, the Tornadoes dominated the third quarter and led 50-30. Harris electrified the crowd with a one-handed tomahawk dunk to start the fourth.

From there, the Tornadoes pulled away in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans were led in scoring by David Quimby with 19 points, who led all scorers.

“We’re in a situation where we have a lot of young players, so a lot of it is just a maturity factor,” first-year Dougherty coach Ty Randolph said. “We have players that have been in backup roles that aren’t use to stepping up in main roles, but when one man goes down, next man up.”

Monroe improves to 2-2 on the season and will play host to Tift County on Friday. With the loss, Dougherty falls to 0-3 and will host Lee County on Friday.