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The Connection                                         February 25 – March 3, 1999, Page 19

The Washington Post                                     Wednesday, February 24, 1999

Lee Boys 67, Herndon 54
Lancers Knock Off Hornets
By Kevin Callahan, Special to the Washington Post
    Lee senior Roger Jackson scored 12 of his season-high 24 points in the fourth quarter and Omar Philmore had five assists and two key steals in the final period as 19^th-ranked Lee eliminated No. 7 Herndon, 67 – 54, in a Virginia AAA Northern Region quarterfinal game last night at Lee.
    The Lancers needed players such as Jackson and Philmore to play well late to win their 16^th straight game. Val Brown, who has averaged 27.5 points in the past six games, picked up his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter. And Lee (19-5) lost Mark Davis, its leading scorer in the regular season, four games ago.
    Lee Activity Director Gloria Green said she removed Davis from the team when she discovered the junior was living with a teammate while his father resided outside the school district. Brown was academically ineligible for most of the regular season.
    "The fact that we had to play 18 games without [Brown] made that a heck of a lot easier," Lee Coach Michael Harris said. "Some teams have the wind taken out of them when a big player goes out, but our kids responded well and we are extremely proud of that."
    The victory puts Lee in Thursday's Northern Region semifinals, where the Lancers will face No. 6 Hayfield at 8 p.m. at Patriot Center. The season ended for Herndon (23-3) as it lost for the second time in three games after winning 15 straight to take over the Post's No. 1 ranking last week.
    The game was played in from of a crowd of 1,200, and Lee officials said approximately, 200 fans were turned away at the door.

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No. 18 Lee 67, No. 8 Herndon 54
Herndon (23-5)  --  Welch 2, Green 1, Smith 14, Eze 10, Gardner 5, Safarian 2, Thomas 16, DeHaven 2, Zoracki 2.
Totals 23 3-6 54.
Lee (19-5)  --  Jackson 24, Sapp 4, Michael 6, Brown 21, Jewell 5, Philmore 5.
Totals 26 9-13 67.
Halftime: Lee 34 – 27.
Three-point goals: Herndon 5 (Smith 2, Eze 2, Gardiner 1); Lee 6 (Brown 3, Sapp 1, Jewell 1, Philmore 1).

The Connection                                         February 25 – March 3, 1999, Page 19

Lee to Face Hayfield in regional semifinals
Lancers Pummel Herndon, Liberty District

By Brian Truitt, The Connection
     For a team with so much talent and success, Lee had had its share of drawbacks this season.
     Star senior Val Brown missed the first 18 games of the season due to an eligibility problem, and now Mark Davis, the Lancers' leading scorer, is gone for the season.
     However, Lee has enough talent to keep on winning, as it continued its regional tournament run on Tuesday night, defeating Concorde District regular season champ Herndon, 667-54, in the second round of the regional tournament.
     "They were a good team," said Lee senior Roger Jackson. "They played our hardest, we played our hardest."
     Jackson had a game-high 24 points, with 4 blocks and 12 rebounds. Brown had 21, Herndon was led by Jason Thomas' 16 points and 11 rebounds.
     "Tonight they played better than we did," said Herndon coach Gary Hall. "It's not a real complicated thing; the team that gets the most easy baskets wins the basketball game, and they got more easy baskets than we did."
     The Hornets had an inauspicious start, missing seven of its first eight shot. Herndon had a problem with its offense all game; the team's leading scorer. Tim Gardner, missed his first 12 shots and didn't score until the fourth quarter.
     With a 47-40 lead after the third quarter, Jackson scored 12 points in the first period, helping the Lancers ice the game.
     According to Lee coach Mike Harris, the victory was a hard fought one. Herndon never gave up, cutting into the lead every time Lee readied to make a run."
     "They're a good basketball team, a real good basketball team," said Harris. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy."
Chemistry Class
     The late-season addition of Brown does not seem to have altered the team chemistry in the least. He practiced with the team until he was eligible to play.
     "The only difference was he wasn't playing in games," said Harris. "It wasn't like we stuck in a brand new guy they weren't used to."
     Davis has been reportedly removed from the team because of a residency issue.
     "We've had a lot of things going on this year," said Harris. "One thing that we've tried to say to the kids all year is that tough times make tough people. Sometimes adversity can be a blessing. Everything's not going to be easy."
     Lee will now face Hayfield in the regional semifinals on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the George Mason University Patriot Center. The top-ranked Hawks, the Patriot District champion, may prove to be a tougher opponent that Herndon.
     "It doesn't get any easier the farther you go," said Harris. "There's no more cupcakes. There's no more Broad Runs left."
Lee Defeats Fairfax for Liberty Title
     With the clock running out in the fourth quarter of Friday night's L:iberty District boys basketball final, Jackson threw up as ugly a shot as anybody tried all night. Almost flat, the short hoot shot bumped off the front rim and up in the air.
     The Lancers trailed 58-56 at the time, having scratched back from a 56-50 deficit with less than a minute and a half to play.
     The game had lived up to its advance billing as a neighborhood grudge match, with a large, boisterous crowd cheering on both teams. The home Fairfax team stayed close mainly through the efforts of junior guard Mike Daniels, who led all scorers with 31 points.
Brown Held Down
     And the defense held Brown (20 points), Lee's top threat, in check from the floor for most of the night. He shot just 3 for 10 from the floor, including 1-3 from behind the arc. But foul shots add up, too, and on the night, Brown was 13 for 15 from the line.
     Then, in the last minute, the pressure seemed to be getting to the Rebels for the first time in the game. Instead of forcing Lee to make a play, they chased the ball, and point guard Brandon Wood picked up a foul on the perimeter. His second foul moments later was his fifth, forcing him from the game.
     Both fouls sent Brown to the line in the final 1:21, and he sank all four free throws to get the game to within 2, at 56-54.
     Daniels was fouled to get the ball back, and he went 1-for-2, making the score 57-54. Jackson hit a shot and Daniels again went 1-for-2 leaving the stage set for the final drama.
     But Brown still had two chances to score. His attempt with 9.6 seconds left was partially blocked, then hit the top of the blackboard, and Lee retained possession. Brown then missed another shot, but in the scramble for the rebound, Fairfax's Brent Forster was called for traveling. On the inbounds play, the ball came to Jackson, about six feet from the bucket.
     His desperation shot came down on the back rim, then hopped to the front rim, then agonizingly, rolled through the hoop.
     Regulation time ended with the score tied, 58-58.
     The overtime was an anticlimax. With the basketball gods so clearly smiling on Lee, the Lancers took a 65-61 lead, and the outcome never seemed to be in doubt. Still, Fiarfax came back one last time, pulling ahead 66-65, before Brown put Lee up to stay on – you guessed it – a pair of free throws.

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