Dougherty, Monroe prepare for Wednesday state playoffs in Albany
By Joe Whitfield
Sports Editor
ALBANY – The Dougherty Trojans (20-7) earned the top seed in Friday night’s region championship game with a double overtime win over Monroe, 70-65, and will host Salem (16-12) of Conyers Wednesday night at Dougherty in Albany. Monroe (21-6) took the second seed and will host Harlem (16-12) at Monroe on Wednesday. Both games will tip off at 6 p.m.
It took two and a half hours and two overtime periods Friday night for the win.Dougherty senior Jai’on Burns hit a three-pointer early in the second overtime to put the Trojans ahead but Monroe had chances. Twice in the game’s final minute, the Tornadoes put the Trojans on the free throw line/ And twice the Trojans missed. However, Monroe could not pull down the rebound and Dougherty got possession again.
Kaleke Singletary-Jinks iced the win for the Trojans by hitting six of six free throws in overtime to put the game out of reach with less than seconds on the clock.
The Trojans began the game on fire and built a 14-4 lead midway through the first quarter when Monroe Head Coach Michael Hoffpauir called timeout to regroup. Moments later, the Tornadoes got the spark they were looking for when Zecorey Peterson made an underhanded shot with a defender on top of him, bringing the crowd to their feet. The Tornadoes closed the gap to 16-10 at the end of the quarter and Lorenzo Still hit a three-pointer late in the half to give the Tornadoes a 22-21 lead.
The remainder of the game was a back-and-forth affair where it seemed like the last team to have the ball would win. It turned out that the inability to pull down those crucial rebounds was a major factor in the game’s final minute.
Singletary-Jinks and Jai’on Burns scored 17 points each to lead the Trojans while Jaquavus Hallman put in 15 and Jawuan Jinks, Jr. added 14 for the winners.
Still and Justin Burns led Monroe with 22 points each.
Jai’on Burns of Dougherty and Lorenzo Still of Monroe took home the “Player of the Game” awards.
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