Bishopville – Rob Brazell is in his first season as the boys basketball head coach for Lee Academy. His goal is to make the program as important to the male student-athletes as the football and baseball programs, which have both won and played for multiple state titles over the past decade.
“If they want the Lee Academy basketball program to be one where other teams have to prepare for us if we are on their schedule then they have to work for that,” Brazell said. “I’d say over the past two games our team has accepted that challenge and we have begun to play up to our potential. We still have a ways to go, but I enjoy the direction this team is currently headed.”
They return two starters from last season in senior small forward Lance Friedenberger and senior center Peyton Welch.
“(Welch is a) major player for us,” Brazell said. “When he is playing well we will be a very competitive team and tough to beat in region play.”
The other starters are sophomore shooting guard Andrew Bowers, the team’s leading scorer, senior power forward Deshon Haddon and point guard Brayden Davis, an eighth-grader.
Junior Noah Brazell is the sixth man and leads the team in steals and assists. The rest of the roster includes seniors William West, Bryson Muldrow, Jack Wheeler and Anderson Watkins and juniors Carson Davis and Trace June.
Ten of the players on the team were on the football team that played for the Class A state championship on November 18. Lee got two practices in before opening basketball season. A flu bug hit the school and limited the Cavaliers to a full roster for only two of their first seven games.
“The boys on this team have been together for several years now, and they get along great and really like each other,” Coach Brazell said. “This makes it a little easier as a coach to do my job when the players get along. The team has banded together and we are improving every game as the season progresses.”
LEE GIRLS ARE A YOUNG SQUAD
The Lee girls are a young team. They only have two seniors in Alleigh Brown and Julee Saverance, and they happen to be the only returning players from last year as well.
“We are young and coming from the junior varsity level to the varsity level is a huge difference,” said Lee head coach Kim Langston. “Seven of the nine have had to make a huge adjustment to their level of play.”
The Lady Cavaliers are doing OK. They started 4-6, but more importantly 2-0 in region play.
Joining the seniors in the lineup are sophomores Mazie Tomlinson and Raylee Catoe and freshman Mallori Frye.
Tomlinson is averaging a double-double of 11.4 points and 10.0 rebounds Brown is averaging 8.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 5.3 steals, while Saverance is averaging 7.5 points and 2.2 steals.
Eighth-grader Jameson Collins is coming off the bench and averaging 7.0 points and 9.6 rebounds.
Other members of the team are sophomores Sara Bell and Ansley King and eighth-grader Karagan Melton.
“We are about where I thought we would be, considering the fact that we have to learn to play together,” Langston said. “Our chemistry is getting better and they are beginning to gel. Each moment is a teaching moment.
“Our success will depend on our determination to get better every day, whether it's a practice day or game day.”
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