The Lee-Davis Boys basketball team hosted its first Southerner Holiday Classic last week at the Mechanicsville campus. Teams from Manchester, Colonial Heights and Trinity Episcopal took advantage of the Christmas break to stay game ready and get some all important tournament experience.

  “I thought it was a great experience for our team,” said Lee-Davis head coach Tripp Metzger.  “Winning the first game, which was a back-n-forth type game, was a big step in the right direction.  And then being a part of the championship game was also something that should benefit our team late in the season when we play must-win games to continue our season.”

  Lee-Davis defeated Colonial Heights in the first game, 66-60; a see-saw battle that saw numerous lead changes and the outcome in doubt until the final seconds.

  The championship matched the Confederates against a solid Trinity squad who had defeated Manchester the previous night.

  The C-feds committed several early game errors that allowed Trinity to mount a lead which they protected for the remainder of the game. The Titans took the championship with a 68-51 victory.

  “I felt we didn’t come ready to play,” Metzger said. He wasn’t sure of the reasons.  “Maybe we were too excited, because most of these guys have never played in a championship type atmosphere,” Metzger cited one of the reasons he wanted to do the event was for tournament experience. 

  “Also, Trinity was a very solid and a well-rounded team,” Metzger said. “We had a lot of unforced errors in the first quarter, which led to some easy scores and extra possessions for them.”

  Zach Smith hit five three pointers for Trinity in the first half. The closest Lee-Davis could get was eight points. “Seemed every time we made a run, they answered right back and pull the lead back up,” Metzger said. 

  C-fed guard J.D. Harvey suffered a high ankle sprain early in the second quarter and never returned. 

  “Defensively, they ran a full court man-to-man and we played a 2-3 zone, both teams stayed in these defenses through three quarters,” Metzger said. “We came out in the fourth in a man-to-man, but only got the lead down to 10 points.”

  The tournament provided the Confederates valuable tournament experience and gave the team an opportunity to showcase some of its outstanding talent.

  “I was glad to see J.D. Harvey and Abdiel Bolden both produce for us both offensively and defensively, and both were named to the All-Tournament Team,” Metzger said.

  The team will take a few days off and then host a Kids Basketball Camp at the end of this week. Then, it’s back to the court for the final run and the bulk of their Capital District schedule. Metzger feels the team is staying focused and working hard to get better each game.

  “We will continue to try and improve on our defense, along with our hustle.  We are a very young and inexperienced team, so we need to try and do the little things that we can control better,” Metzger said.  “As long as we are working hard and pushing each other in practice we will have the opportunity to be in every game with a chance to win it in the fourth quarter.”

  The team showed that tenacity in the opening win against the Colonials, falling behind several times and fighting back.

  Metzger said they’d need everything they can muster for the task ahead. “Now as we go into January we hit the meat of our Capital District schedule and all of those games are the most important games for seeding in the tournament.

  “One of our goals is to qualify for the Central Region Tournament.  The last Lee-Davis team to do so was the 1997-98 team (Metzger’s junior year at L-D), which was 12 seasons ago.  We just have to keep improving to put ourselves in the best possible situation to win a game in the Capital District Tournament so we can get to the Central Region Tournament.”
 
LEE-DAVIS 66,
COLONIAL HEIGHTS 60
COLONIAL HEIGHTS (1-6) — Dones 0, Moseley 0, Holmes 20, Rush 13, Daniel 15, Mears 3, M. Hicks 7, Walker 0, Steele 0, Kochuba 2. Totals — 21 10-22 60.
LEE-DAVIS (4-3) — Harvey 22, Abbott 0, Powell 3, T. Dandridge 5, Spengler 4, Boone 5, Bolden 4, Autry 0, Clark 13, Bassett 0, Boze 10. Totals — 19 25-43 66.

Colonial Hts….... 10 23   6 21 — 60
Lee-Davis…..........14 16 13 23 — 66

3-point goals — CH: Holmes 5, Daniel 3; L: Boze 2, T. Dandrige.

Highlights — CH: Miles Hicks 14 rebounds; L: Abdiel Bolden 11 rebounds; J.D. Harvey 5 steals; Shrevon Clark 7 rebounds.

TRINITY EPISCOPAL 68,
LEE-DAVIS 51
TRINITY EPISCOPAL (6-2) — Willett 0, Mallory 0, Christian 8, Z. Swift 21, Burston 15, Johnson 3, McGill 5, Smith 7, Brown 5, Markunas 2, N. Swift 2, Crump 0, Rice 0. Totals — 21 18-22 68.
LEE-DAVIS (4-4) — Harvey 4, Abbott 4, Powell 0, Kunca 1, T. Dandridge 6, Spengler 2, Boone 6, Bolden 11, Autry 0, Clark 4, Bassett 3, Oldaker 3, Boze 7. Totals — 21 6-8 51.

Trinity Epi…........20 14 23 11 — 68
Lee-Davis…........... 8 11 18 14 — 51

3-point goals — TE: Z. Swift 5, Johnson 1, Smith 1, Brown 1; LD: Bassett 1, Oldaker 1, Boze 1.
Highlights — TE: Torey Burston 7 assists, 6 rebounds (Tournament MVP); Trey Smith 5 steals; Evan McGill 6 rebounds; LD: Abbiel Bolden 11 rebounds, 5 blocks.