Gordon Lee teams come up one win short of state playoffs
The Gordon Lee Trojams took some solid momentum into the Region 6-A tournament following a 59-40 home victory over Atlanta Classical Academy last Monday night.
It was a close contest in the opening quarter as the Trojans took an 11-8 lead on Logan Simerley’s stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer. Will Carswell would come up big on the defensive end in the second quarter with two blocked shots as the Trojans took a 26-16 lead into the locker room.
A 3-pointer off the fingertips of Sam Fehr less than a minute into the second half briefly boosted the Gordon Lee lead to 13 points. However, the Cavaliers would hit back-to-back threes, chopping the Trojans’ advantage down to seven.
But the Navy-and-white would put the game away over the next five minutes as they outscored ACA, 15-2, before head coach Matt Smith rested his starters with a minute left in the third period.
Gordon Lee’s reserves played majority of the fourth quarter before Smith re-inserted his senior starters in the final 98 seconds of what was their final game in Chickamauga.
Carswell and Simerley finished with 15 points each in the victory, followed by eight points by Dawson Knight and Hunter Holmes. Fehr, Luke Sikes and Keaton Custer all had three points apiece, while Robert Henson and Will McCutcheon rounded out the scoring with two each.
Gordon Lee boys 71, Mt. Zion 59
The Trojans, who closed out regular season by winning eight of its final 11 games, kept things rolling in the opening round of the Region 6-A tournament at Armuchee High School on Thursday night with a victory over the Eagles.
Down by two points at the end of the first period, Gordon Lee came storming back to take a 36-29 lead at intermission. They would outscored the Eagles in the third quarter, 21-8, to go up 20 and put a stranglehold on the game.
Carswell had 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Trojans, while three other players finished in double figures. Knight had a monster night with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, followed by Simerley with 11 and Fehr
with a season-high 10. Four from Holmes and two from Anthony Sikes filled out the scoring column.
Fulton boys 66, Gordon Lee 49
A very nice late-season run came to a halt for the Trojans as they fell behind Fulton Leadership Academy 21-9 after the first quarter and were unable to complete the comeback on Friday.
Simerley scored 19 points for the Trojans (13-13). Carswell had 11 points and Fehr added 10. Five points by Holmes, two from Knight and one from Anthony Sikes filled out the scoring column for Gordon Lee.
Mount Zion girls 54, Gordon Lee 45
A very close and intense matchup on Friday night saw the Lady Trojans take a 32-31 lead into the fourth quarter. However, the Lady Eagles would make 10 of 15 free throws in the final period to move on to the region semifinals.
Jordan Kierbow made 7 of her 10 free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 34 points for the Lady Eagles.
Riley Shirley had 11 points to lead Gordon Lee (7-12). Addison Sturdivant had eight points. Emma Phillips and Emma Mcgraw each finished with six. Kaitlyn Wagoner and Emma Langston had five points apiece, while two points each from Ashlyn Schmidt and Sidney Gasaway rounded out the scoring.
Mcgraw and Carswell were named to the All-region teams for Gordon Lee, while Sturdivant and Simerley each picked up honorable mention nods.