Lee County beats Calhoun County in intense summer league basketball

LEESBURG — The Lee County Trojans remained unbeaten in summer basketball Wednesday with a 46-42 win over the Calhoun County Cougars. Still, the fierce intensity of the game resembled that of a championship matchup. Both teams have high expectations for the coming basketball season and played fast, physical and intense basketball from wire to wire.

“I thought our kids played hard,” Calhoun County head coach Marcus Shaw said. “We made some errors here and there, which we can improve upon. It’s Summer League, so we have a chance to work on those errors before the season starts.”

The Cougars played without inside powerhouse Amajion Figgins, who fell to the floor after the game’s opening jump ball, turning his ankle on the landing of the jump. Moments later, he walked gingerly to the bench. At the half, Figgins was on the court but Shaw kept Figgins out of the game as a precaution.

Behind the three-pointers from Darnell Enocher and the inside play of Zechariah Canidate, the Cougars built an early lead. The Trojans battled back, however, with Lee County’s inside big man, Matthew Hardwick, and Kam Sanders leading the way. Braden Moore swished a long three just before the half to give the Trojans an 18-17 lead at the half.

Moore brought the crowd to its feet in the second half with a steal and a fast-break dunk, and the Trojans pushed their lead to 9 when Moore hit two free throws on a technical foul called with the Cougars had six players on the court. The intense physicality underneath the basket between Hardwick, Canidate and Lee County’s Josiah Parker led officials to warn players and all three went to the bench for a short break.

Late in the game, the Cougars closed the gap when Canidate got past Hardwick for a basket underneath, raced to the other end of the floor and blocked a shot that gave the Cougars the ball again. A three from Enocher put the score a 40-38 with 1:15 remaining.

The Trojans held on for the win by making free throws when the Cougars fouled to get possession of the ball.

Before the varsity game, the two junior varsity teams battled in a tightly contested game as well. Lee County’s Kaiden Newberry hit a jump shot from the free throw line late in the game, which gave the Trojans a 26-25 win. The Cougars set up a final play with less than a second on the clock, and Calhoun’s Eric Worthy Jr. swished a shot from half court, but officials ruled the shot was too late.

The two teams will play again Tuesday in Edison as the Cougars host summer basketball. Lee County, Worth County and Dougherty will be in Edison for games that begin at 2 p.m.

By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]
By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorJoeWhitfield[email protected]