By By Cassie Chance/Special to The Star
Dec. 15, 2001
After getting by county rival West Lauderdale in three overtimes, Lewis Lightsey's Northeast Lauderdale Trojans opened Division 5-4A play Friday night at home against Magee.
The Trojans were looking for win number 11 on the year and got it in a big way. Northeast pounded the boards all night en route to an astonishing 101-73 win."I was glad to have Kalani White back. I thought Stephen Dyess got us started early and everything just fell into place from there.
Northeast began the game with a shot put back in off the rebound by Betts and a dunk by Dyess. The Trojans jumped out to an early 10-1 before Magee began to cut into the NEL lead. After eight minutes of play, Northeast led
24-17.
Martin and Winston added to the Northeast lead, which was extended to 41-25 with 3:49 left on the clock. Northeast charged on an 13-8 run in the last three minutes to take a 54-36 lead into the locker room at the half.
Northeast lead. The Trojan defense held Magee to five points in the first
three minutes of the second half while NEL added 14 more points to the
scoreboard. In the last five minutes of the half, Northeast held Magee to only 12 points while White, Dyess, Betts, and Greg Powell pounded the boards to make the Trojan lead 82-51 heading into the final quarter of play.
In the final quarter, the Trojans didn't let up and keep the visitors'
scoring to a minimum. In the fourth, Northeast barely outscored Magee 21-16 and broke 100 points with 1:11 remaining on the clock."Little things killed us. We didn't get rebounds, we didn't handle the ball
well, and we didn't get back," said Magee head coach Jason Kelly.
Magee (1-13, 0-1) was led by Grubbs' 12 and Jason Rankin's 10. Northeast (11-2, 1-0) got 22 points from Martin, 16 from White, and 15 by Dyess.
Lady Trojans 68
Magee 44
The Lady Trojans also opened division play on Friday night. Northeast was looking for their sixth win of the year.
Magee rallied in the final quarter by scoring 20 points and holding the Lady Trojans to just 14 points. However, it wasn't enough as NEL took the 68-44 win."They're young just like we are," said Northeast coach Dan Stegall. "We caused a lot of turnovers. We missed a lot of easy shots and rebounds also."Magee got 18 points from Natasha Funchess. Northeast's Hopson led all scorers with 36 points, while Jackson netted 19.The Lady Trojans (6-9, 1-0) will travel to Birmingham next to participate in the Mississippi/Alabama Challenge.