The night the lights went out at Monroe? Dougherty boys win big

ALBANY — The night the lights went out at Monroe. Literally. No, the season is not over but Monroe’s chances of taking the top seed into the region tournament are not good. It was only a brief moment during the game, but apparently, a fan standing along the wall leaned against the light switch and the sold-out crowd was in the dark briefly. That might have been a fitting metaphor for the Tornadoes’ chances to win the top seed in the coming region tournament. Those chances are slim to none now after the Dougherty Trojans blew out their crosstown rivals 70-50 Friday night and currently hold a two-game lead in the race for the top with only two games left to play. The Trojans have now won five straight and have won eight out of their last ten games. Now ranked No. 10 in Class the AAA, Dougherty is 12-10. The No. 6-ranked Golden Tornadoes fell to 17-6.

The game was close early. Heading toward the end of the first quarter the Trojans led 11-9 but Kaleke Singletary-Jinks hit a long three at the buzzer to give Dougherty a 14-9 heading into the second quarter. The Trojans opened the second quarter on fire and before Monroe could score, Dougherty pushed the score to 25-9 — a 14-0 run. The Tornadoes opened the second half with renewed energy and determination, but Dougherty responded and grew the lead to 21 in the third quarter and was in total control the entire time. The huge crowd began heading toward the parking lot with four minutes left in the game and officials had to pause the game briefly to get fans off the court as they headed toward the exits.

Dougherty head coach Bakari Bryant liked what he saw.

“When it comes to rivalry games, your main concern as a coach, is to prepare your team for the emotional aspect of it,” said Bryant. “We did that tonight. We suppressed the noise tonight by creating the energy and sustaining it. Championships are won on the road and the type of environment we played in tonight was exactly what we needed. Hats off to my coaching staff for preparing our young men for tonight’s game. There could be the possibility that we may end up playing them again. People say it’s hard to beat a good team three times in a row. We’ve got two region games left to play,” the coach continued. “And we’re taking them one at a time. I’m very appreciative of our boy’s effort tonight but never satisfied. Humble and hungry with a lion’s heart.”

Markelle Jones led the scoring for the Trojans with 19 points, Maurice Davis, Jr. put in 15, Jai’on Burns scored 11, Juwuan Jinks knocked down nine and Kaleke Singletary-Jinks added eight.

Justin Burns led Monroe with 15 points, while Lorenzo Still and An’Drico Jackson each added eight points.

Monroe’s Lady Tornadoes took the lead early and never trailed. With Dougherty missing senior post player Jacqueline Buchanan and Dougherty’s other post player Charity Bellamy slowed with an injury, Monroe’s AaLiyah Robinson and Ciarra Lunsford dominated the inside and ruled the boards. After losing to Dougherty just a couple of weeks ago, the Monroe girls blasted their rivals 68-51.

The Lady Tornadoes led 11-3 early and pushed the lead out to 12 points in the second quarter before D’Asia Simmons found her spot and hit three three-pointers in the second quarter to cut the lead to just four points. That was as close as Dougherty would get. With Monroe dominating inside, the Lady Tornadoes added to the lead in each quarter.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn,” said Dougherty head coach Khadijah Ali. “When you’re playing in a big game like this with a tough opponent, you have to take advantage of every opportunity and you have to box out and rebound. We missed 15 free throws in a game we lost by 17 points and I am certain they out-rebounded us by at least 20. Despite all of that, I saw a lot of good things.” she continued. “I believe the future is bright on the Eastside. No excuses over here. We’re just going to make the necessary adjustments.”

Robinson led Monroe Friday night with 27 points, Lunsford scored 20, and Saniyah Graham put in 17 for the winners.

Jatiana Chambers led Dougherty with 27 points and Simmons scored 19.

The win put the Lady Trojans’ season record at 18-5, 6-2. Dougherty is now 13-9, 6-2.