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It was simply a good night to be an Atlee senior. Not only did last Friday’s contest against rival Lee-Davis serve as senior night at Atlee, but during the girls’ basketball game, Richelle Price and Sydney Henderson were both honored for surpassing the 1000 point plateau. So what could have been more appropriate than having Atlee senior Cameron Colquitt join the 1000-point club during the Raiders’ 61-58 win over the Confederates.

  The game began as if it would not even be much of a contest for the Raiders. Needing only 12 points to surpass the 1000 point barrier, Colquitt (25 points) appeared as if he wanted to get the occasion out of the way early by scoring the games’ opening basket 22 seconds in. Iain Brinks then pushed the Raiders ahead 7-0 on a jumper and a three from the right wing off a pass from Ryan Farrar.

  Meanwhile the intense Atlee defense kept Lee-Davis out of the scoring column. However, Atlee soon joined them as the two teams combined for a single score over the ensuing four minutes.

  Lee-Davis finally got on the board with 2:50 left in the first off a shot from Chris Cook, who led the Confederates with 21 points on the night. Phillip Berry (15 rebounds) then trimmed the Atlee lead to three on a put-back of his own miss and from then on the contest remained close until the final buzzer.

  Colquitt had a hand in on the first nine Raiders’ points in the second period; nailing a jumper, dishing to Brinks for a score, hitting a plus-one layup and scoring on an assist from Dylan Garthright.

  But Lee-Davis hung in the game thanks largely to seven consecutive points from T.J. Harvey (16 points). When Cook was fouled on a made basket with 2:28 in the half, the Confederates led 20-19. However, Cook missed the ensuing free throw; a trend that would haunt Lee-Davis down the stretch.

  Atlee pushed it’s lead back to four on a three from Garthright and two free throws from Colquitt but the C-feds countered with shots from Harvey and Berry to tie the game at 24 with :19 seconds until the break.

  Atlee’s Barett Prince drilled a shot at the buzzer to send the Raiders into the locker room with a two-point lead.

  Needing one more point to break 1000, Colquitt reached the mark on a 12-foot elbow-jumper with 5:28 left in the third and the game was momentarily halted so he could be recognized for the feat.  “It feels good to experience it but it feels good to get it out of the way,” Colquitt said. “No more pressure on myself.”

  However with ceremonies out of the way it was Cook’s turn to grab the spotlight by scoring Lee-Davis’ first six points of the period. His strip and score with 4:19 in the third put the C-feds back ahead 32-30.

  But it was senior night at Atlee so Daniel Faggert stepped up for the Raiders. Playing healthier than he has been in weeks, Faggert turned in one of best all-around games of the season by attacking the boards and playing hard-nosed defense. Five straight points from Faggert put Atlee back out front but with 1:52 in the third.

  “Daniel has had a hurt back, hurt knees, he sprained his ankle three different times this year, he’s definitely a warrior,” Colquitt said.

  Colquitt said he gets Faggert to play harder by comparing him with UNC’s Tyler Hansboro, alias ‘Psycho T’. “I mess with (Faggert) during the game, ‘Come on, show me some Psycho D,” Colquitt said. “That really fires him up I think. He brought his A-game tonight and it showed.”

  Nevertheless, Lee-Davis once again trimmed the lead to one, 37-36, on a pair of free throws from Greg Frame.

  With 1:23 on the clock, Faggert pushed the margin back to three, 39-36, and the Raiders immediately switched to a trapping man-to-man press that caught Lee-Davis off guard. On the ensuing inbounds, Colquitt intercepted the pass and scored on a layup. When the C-feds hurried to inbounds the ball, Colquitt once again stole the ball and scored to cap a 7-0 Atlee run over an 11 second period and forcing Lee-Davis to call a timeout.

  “All week we worked on putting in the press,” Colquitt said. “I think it surprised them. You saw us go on that 7-0 run. I think that was really what made the difference in the game.”

  Atlee head coach Phil Reynolds was happy with the production of his press, but not the residual effects that occurred after the run. “The problem was we got in foul trouble,” he said. “We were fouling on the press and they got to the free throw line and we had to get out of it.”

  Lee-Davis stopped the bleeding on a pair of Cook free throws, but once again it was Colquitt, as he has done repeatedly throughout his career, scoring on a three at the buzzer to give Atlee a 46-38 lead heading into the fourth.

  “In four years, I think he’s hit a buzzer-beater against me in every game,” said an astounded Lee-Davis head coach Tripp Metzger. “Whether it’s a first quarter or at the end of the game, he always seems to hit one at the buzzer. That’s a guy who steps up in pressure situations.”

  Atlee continued to play aggressively in the final period however instead of netting points they only increased their foul total, scoring only one point over the first two minutes of the period.

  At the same time, Lee-Davis did little to help its efforts by going 3-6 from the line. But Berry’s triple-rebound put-back effort was followed by a pair from the line by Cook to pull the C-feds within three with 6:14 to play.

  Following a pair of freebies from Faggert, Harvey scored on back-to-back baskets to pull Lee-Davis within one, 49-48 with five minutes to play.

  But down the stretch, the Confederates went 3-for-8 from the line while Atlee was 6-of-10 from the stripe to seal the win.

  “If we had Chris (Cook) shoot them all we’d be all right,” Metzger said. “You can’t select your free throw shooter.”

  A scary moment came with 3:36 to play when Harvey’s younger brother JD, a freshman point guard for Lee-Davis, stole the ball and flew down court for a layup. JD literally leapt over the shoulder of Atlee’s Farrar and was upended, landing flat on his back. After being examined for several minutes, JD was helped to his feet and walked from the floor.

  But in his few minutes on the floor, Harvey was impressive and showed talent that proclaimed he is the future of Lee-Davis basketball. “He’s going to be a player,” Metzger said of the player who started the season on the JV squad. “After seeing him on the practice floor we couldn’t keep him down there any longer. He gave us a great spark.

  “He’s quick, he can get in there and penetrate and I think that will help us in the future top open up some shooters,” Metzger added.
 
LEE-DAVIS (1-9 Capital, 5-15) N. Frame 2, J. Harvey 0, Cook 21, G. Frame 5, T. Harvey 16, Joyner 0, D. Abele 0, T. Abele 8, Berry 6. Totals 19 18-29 58.
ATLEE (3-7, 7-11) Colquitt 25, Garthright 2, Brinks 8, Faggert 9, Morrison 4, Farrar 2, Ratchford 0, Evans 0, Hodges 5, Rogers 0, Prince 6, Johnson 0. Totals
23 12-20 61.
Lee-Davis…................. 7 17 14 20 — 58
Atlee .......................... 10 16 20 15 — 61
3-point goals: LD — G. Frame, T. Abele. A — Colquitt, Brinks, Morrison. Highlights: LD — Philip Berry 15 rebounds.