Lee West, Lee East find their way forward

LEESBURG – For a while Wednesday afternoon, it looked like nobody wanted to see the ball go in.

That didn’t last.

By the end of a tidy doubleheader at Lee County High School, both Lee County middle school programs were still standing — and still playing — after Lee West and Lee East rolled to first-round victories in the girls’ Deep South Conference playoffs.

No. 4-seed Lee West opened the afternoon by pulling away from Merry Acres for a 30-18 win, and Lee East followed with a convincing 36-19 victory over Albany Middle to send both Lee schools into next week’s semifinals in Cordele.

The results were decisive. The routes there were not.

In the opener, Lee West and Merry Acres spent most of the first half in a shooting slump that would have made a fisherman proud. The Lady Trojans managed just a 9-4 lead at halftime, and every basket felt like it required a small act of courage.

Then the third quarter arrived, and so did the separation.

Harmony Hutcherson opened the half with a 3-pointer, and suddenly the gym felt a little larger and the rims a little kinder. By the time the quarter was over, Lee West had turned a five-point game into a runaway, outscoring Merry Acres 15-0 and building a 24-4 lead.

Merry Acres didn’t score in the quarter. Lee West didn’t miss much.

The Lady Braves showed some fight in the fourth, with Annabelle Spooner drilling three 3-pointers in a spirited attempt to drag her team back into it, but the damage had already been done.

Ariel Ofodile led Lee West with 14 points, Hutcherson added 11, and Spooner paced Merry Acres with 10.

The nightcap came with a little more context and a little more edge.

Just two days earlier, Albany Middle had beaten Lee East by two points. The Lady Indians didn’t look like a team interested in a sequel early, either, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before Lee East found its footing.

Once it did, the tone shifted.

Lee East scored the next eight points to take an 8-4 lead after one quarter, and when Addison Savage knocked down a long 3-pointer late in the second quarter, the Lady Trojans had pushed the lead to 18-5. It was 18-8 at halftime — close enough to imagine things, not close enough to relax.

Lee East made sure there would be no imagining in the third.

Caylee Simmons and Brylyn Parsons hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the half, and just like that, the lead was 25-10. The Lady Trojans carried a 29-13 advantage into the final six minutes, and the fourth quarter became as much about managing minutes as managing the game.

Laila Patrick led Lee East with 12 points, Savage scored nine and Parsons added eight. Reshonda Butler scored eight to lead Albany Middle, and Zy’deriaka Harris added five.

Lee East will face Sumter County next Wednesday in the semifinals, and Lee West will draw the hardest assignment in the bracket — top-seeded, unbeaten Crisp County.

One more week. Two more chances.

And for now, two teams still standing.