December 4, 2010 game against Huntsville Lee
White Station pulls away to defeat Huntsville Lee
By Pete Wickham
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Posted December 5, 2010 at 10:29 a.m.
Andre Hollins and White Station capped a strong weekend performance with a 63-50 pullaway win from defending Alabama State Class 5A champ Lee of Huntsville in the final game of the Youth Athletic Foundation Classic at Lausanne.
“For us it’s huge. Now all our guys know that this team can play with anyone in the nation,” said Hollins, who had 29 points, including a 14-of-16 performance at the foul line for the Spartans (7-2). The Minnesota signee averaged 32 points a game during the classic – including a 46-point performance against Findlay Prep – ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s prep poll – on Thursday.
The Generals (9-2) stayed with the Spartans through the first half, and tied the game at 27 on a 3-pointer by guard Jacob Perry at the buzzer.
Lee tried pinching as many as five players on Hollins as he went to the basket, and tried applying a press. But the Spartans developed patience as the game went on, broke the press and had several 2-on-1 breaks to the basket down the stretch.
White Station also started picking on the impatience of Lee’s offense midway through the third quarter, and a 7-0 run, fueled by two steals and capped by a 3-pointer by Hollins, opened a 38-32 lead and started a 23-8 run that went into the fourth quarter.
Freshman Leron Black fueled the fires by scoring his team’s first eight points in the final period, and finishing the night with 12. The Spartans also got nice bursts from 6-7 senior Neno Johnson and 6-4 freshman guard Davell Roby, who each ended the night with seven points. Marvin Williams, a 6-8 Lipscomb signee, was strong in the paint with four blocks.
“We told our guys be patient, beat the pressure and then you can pick your poison,” said Spartans’ assistant coach Chris Simpson, who ran the team Saturday night while head coach Jesus Patino was home dealing with a family emergency. “Lee reminds me of a really good AA team, small but quick to the basket. They play a lot like (Jackson) Liberty, though they weren’t as patient.”
Lee coach Greg Brown has only one starter back from last year’s title squad, 6-6 senior Devin Langford, who is being recruited by Illinois, Georgia and Auburn. Langford scored 17 points, but battled foul trouble all evening.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces – transfers, kids playing their first varsity season,” Brown said. “We simply lost our focus in the second half.”
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/dec/05/white-station-beats-lee/
