Albany Middle, Radium Springs advance in boys’ playoffs

ALBANY — For 12 minutes Thursday, Albany Middle School made basketball look like a lesson in denial.

For the final 12, it looked like a lesson in survival.

The Indians turned the opening game of the Deep South Conference boys’ playoffs into a defensive clinic, built a 14-0 halftime lead, then barely held on as Lee West stormed all the way back before Albany Middle escaped with a 33-30 victory at Radium Springs Middle School.

If the first half felt clinical, the second half felt like a warning siren.

Albany Middle’s trapping zone defense swallowed Lee West whole before the break, turning every attempted drive into a deflection, a steal or a rushed pass. Laminsky Clinton drilled a 3-pointer early, Jojo West scored twice in the first quarter, and Willie Cooper added two baskets in the second as the Indians built their 14-0 cushion without surrendering a single point.

Lee West couldn’t get into the paint. And when it tried, the ball usually came right back.

Then came halftime — and whatever Lee West coach Kai Hamilton said in the locker room changed the game.

Amari Huff opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, and suddenly the Trojans were attacking instead of reacting. They ripped off an 8-1 run to open the half, and Kingston Neal buried a buzzer-beating 3 to cap an 18-6 third quarter that slashed the deficit to 20-18 heading into the final six minutes.

The building changed. The game changed.

Albany Middle coach Tenorris Knox sensed it, too, and called his team together before the momentum could finish flipping. Cooper answered with a strong drive to the basket. Clinton followed with another 3. Then he jumped a passing lane and scored again, and just like that, the Indians had pushed the lead back to 27-18.

Lee West still wasn’t finished.

Down 31-21 with about 2½ minutes to play, Daquan Style drilled a 3-pointer and Bryce Lane muscled home a basket inside. The Trojans were suddenly within 33-28 with just over a minute left — and still coming.

They would get three chances in the final 10 seconds to steal the game.

None of the 3s would fall.

Albany Middle finally exhaled.

Clinton finished with 15 points to lead the Indians, and Cooper added 10. Neal and Huff scored seven each for Lee West.

The nightcap didn’t offer nearly as much suspense.

Radium Springs turned its own first-round game into a track meet early, exploding to a 10-0 lead that forced Crisp County into a quick timeout. By the end of the first quarter it was 19-0, and Panthers coach Rantavious Gilbert was already emptying his bench.

By the start of the second quarter, Radium’s third group was on the floor. The starters played little the rest of the way, and 11 different Panthers scored in a comprehensive 42-18 victory.

Next up is a trip to top-seeded Merry Acres.

The second round of the boys’ playoffs will be played Thursday in Albany, with Radium Springs facing No. 2 seed Sumter County in the 5 p.m. opener, followed by Albany Middle taking on Merry Acres.

If Thursday was any indication, the margin for error just got thinner.