Basketball Shorts: Monroe, Lee County, Westover all sweep

Monroe sweeps Cairo

ALBANY — The Monroe basketball teams kept rolling Tuesday night, with the No. 8-ranked Golden Tornadoes winning their 10th straight game and the No. 3-ranked Lady Tornadoes cruising to another lopsided victory against Cairo.

The Tornadoes had to work for theirs, pulling away late for a 68-60 win over the Syrupmakers. Monroe led just 19-16 after the first quarter before getting a spark from Tristen Terry and Elijah Rivers, who each knocked down three-pointers to help stretch the lead to 37-27 at halftime.

Cairo trimmed the margin in the fourth quarter, but Monroe closed it out at the free-throw line. Rivers sank four free throws in the final minutes, and Brayden Burns hit three of four down the stretch to keep the Tornadoes in control.

Burns led Monroe with 22 points, Rivers added 15, Hiran Holloway scored 11, and Terry finished with nine. Monroe improved to 12-2 on the season.

The Lady Tornadoes, now 12-1, had little trouble in a 61-27 win over the Lady Syrupmakers. Kie’Aundria Acree dominated with 30 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three blocks. Taylor McKinzy added 14 points, Maleyah Hines finished with nine points and 11 rebounds, and freshman Narija McDowell scored six points with five assists and three steals.

Monroe will travel to Albany’s west side Friday night for a key Region matchup with Westover.

---

Lee County sweeps Northside

LEESBURG — The Lee County Trojans and Lady Trojans picked up a pair of Region wins Tuesday night, beating Northside of Warner Robins 73-47 in the boys game and 45-33 in the girls contest.

The Trojans used strong defense and rebounding to keep Northside from getting second-chance opportunities. Jayshawn Maddox set the tone defensively with several steals and blocks.

T.J. Williams led Lee County with 14 points, Maddox scored 13, Joasiah Franklin added 10, and TreCori Green finished with nine. The Trojans improved to 8-7.

In the girls’ game, Lee County jumped out to a 24-13 halftime lead and never let Northside seriously threaten. Post player Taliyah Porter scored 20 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Camya Hutcherson added seven points and Jaila Hicks scored six.

The Lady Trojans are now 9-6 and will travel to Veterans High School on Friday for another Region matchup.

---

Westover sweeps Bainbridge

ALBANY — The No. 7-ranked Westover Patriots won their 10th straight game Tuesday night with a 69-43 victory over Bainbridge at the Boston Garden.

Westover, now 10-1, got a balanced scoring effort led by Gregory Williams with 14 points, T.K. Johnson with 13, Jalen Holmes with 11 and Josiah Daniels with nine.

The Lady Patriots knocked off the Lady Bearcats 45-39 for a big region win. Sydney Donaldson scored 24 points, grabbed five rebounds and stole the ball eight times to lead Westover. Savannah Donaldson added eight points with seven rebounds and freshman Amarise Idlett scored four points with seven assists.

Westover will host Monroe on Friday night. The school plans to honor head coach Dallis Smith before the boys game after he reached the 500-win milestone in December.