Once Alexander began to follow its season-long plan to success, the Cougars were home free.
Alexander went back to its spread-the-wealth policy late in the third quarter, finished on a 13-0 run and used it as a springboard to a 64-42 win over Lee County in the Class 6A boys final at the Macon Coliseum Friday night. The win gave the Cougars the school’s first state championship.
“We have a lot of guys who are good offensively,” Alexander coach Jason Slate said. “Getting them to share the ball with their teammates and not caring who gets the credit is the plan. You saw that especially in the second half when they were helping each other score.”
With the game tied 33-33, Alexander scored 13 unanswered points in the final 3:41, with three different players scoring points. That run gave Alexander a 46-33 lead and, combined with a 7-0 spurt, never allowed Lee County to cut the margin to single digits the rest of the night.
“Our offense in the first half was really slow,” said guard Noah Melson, one of seven seniors on the team. “We just had to move the ball a little more and play better defense.” He had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Junior forward Braeden Lue, who led the team with 26 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, said, “We had to lock in and do what we do best. We’ve were playing good defense and we had to start scoring again.”
Alexander (27-5) also got 11 points from Jay Quan Nelson.
Lee County (28-4) was led by Ousmane Kromah with 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Caden King had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Both teams were cold from the field in the first half. Alexander shot 31% and made only 1 of 11 of its 3-point shots. Alexander did a better job getting to the line, where it outscored Lee County 7-2.
“It’s been an incredible year,” Slate said. “We had seven seniors and everyone bought into the plan.”
Alexander -- 11-15-20-18 -- 64
Lee County -- 14-10- 9- 9 -- 42
Alexander (64): Noah Melson 15, Milan Kennedy, Jay Quan Nelson 11, Marvin McGhee 3, Braeden Lue 26, Christan Gravett, Jazzdon Streeter, Gregory Dunson 9, Raymond McKoy, Christopher White, Chris Hutchinson, Terrance Bowen, Amari Atchison.
Lee County (42): Christian Brown 2, D.J. Taylor 4, Ousmane Kromah 14, Harrison Skinner 3, Mark Saaden, Braylon Chaney 3, Andrew Knight, Caden King 8, Josiah Parker 6, Nick Fabrizio, Demetrius Davis 2, Matthew Hardwick.
About the Author
