Clinging to a tenacious nine point lead midway through the third quarter and playing without McDonald’s All-American nominee R.J. Price, the Atlee Raiders looked as if they were going to face a difficult battle to the wire from visiting Lee-Davis on Friday night. But an demoralizing offensive explosion from Raiders’ forward Bryan Reiss proved to be a back-breaker that allowed Atlee to run away with a 74-53 rivalry win.

  Reiss scored eight of Atlee’s first 10 points of the game but then suddenly went cold and was unable to connect from any range. Yet when Lee-Davis trimmed the Raiders’ third quarter lead to 29-21 Reiss began to set the nets on fire. Reiss scored on a reverse and followed it with four consecutive three pointers, tallying 14 points in a span of 2:52. On the night Reiss finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds.

  “The first half I really wasn’t hitting much but I had to keep shooting because shooters keep shooting,” Reiss said. “As soon as I hit that one three from the corner I started feeling it. I got a couple of offensive rebound putbacks and I started stroking it and they were going in. I was just feeling it.”

  With Price unable to play, Reiss felt he needed to take on more of an offensive role.

  “We knew when RJ got injured, somebody had to step up and score for us,” Reiss said. “We don’t have that much scorers… I knew I had to step up tonight both defensively and offensively and I think we did that.”

  For head coach Phil Reynolds, Reiss’ shooting was a welcome return. “I told our assistant coach Rodgers, coaching is a lot easier when guys hit shots like that,” he said. “Sometimes you just do things really well. The two previous games we were 9-51 from three and it’s hard to win when you shoot like that. And tonight Bryan just got on a streak right there.”

  Atlee came into the matchup looking for a win to maintain their hold on third place in the Capital District race. A victory over the C-feds would be one more step in a remarkable turnaround for the Raiders after having not won a single district game last season.

  On the other hand, Lee-Davis (5-14, 0-10) was simply looking for any win and left the court mirroring Atlee’s performance of last year with a 0-10 record so far in district play. 

  For Lee-Davis it was another episode of déjà-vu. The Confederates looked sharp early, taking an 11-10 lead over the Raiders by he end of the first quarter thanks to six points from Shrevon Clark.

  But Atlee managed to stay in the game. With Reiss going cold in the second quarter, it was junior Kevin Drayton who picked up the slack. The slender six foot guard/forward repeatedly punished Lee-Davis by slashing to the basket and battling on the boards to finish the game with 16 points and 8 rebounds.  Drayton scored six points in the final 4:35 of the half allowing Atlee to take 24-19 lead heading into the locker room.

  “I try to use my quickness against them because I’m a lot smaller, try to take it from them,” Drayton said.

  “In some ways with RJ out it opens up more playing time for him,” Reynolds said. “He’s a skinny, six foot kid but he’s very tough and plays aggressively inside…We actually moved him into the high post because we were having a hard time against their zone.”

  The third quarter turned into another chapter in a season-long nightmare for the Confederates as their offense fell apart.

  A three from Atlee point guard Ruben Rucker was followed by a pair of free throws from Reiss to give the Raiders a 10 point lead a little over a minute into the period.

  JD Harvey (14 points) connected on a jumper to pull Lee-Davis back to a single digit deficit, but the C-feds then went nearly four minutes without scoring.

  To compound matters, Reiss then put on his intimidating shooting exhibition.

  “When he hit those three, threes in a row that crushed our spirits,” said Lee-Davis head coach Trip Metzger.

  But instead of throwing in the towel, the C-feds continued to battle, fouling Atlee to stop the clock and scoring on their own. But it was a matter of too little too late for Lee-Davis, as the Raiders finished the game going 26-of-30 from the free throw line, including Drayton who was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

  “Yeah, it’s kind of been the story of the year,” Metzger said. “We always seem to dig ourselves a big hole that we can’t get out of. And then when it’s a sense of urgency we try to start playing again. You dig those big holes it’s hard to get out of.”

  For Drayton, it was a solid team effort that contributed to the win. “RJ was hurt and someone needed to kind of fill his spot and I think as a team we all did,” he said. “Ruben Rucker led the team as a point guard, Kyle (Rodgers) and Reiss both got 10 rebounds, numerous offensive rebounds and it was all like a team effort.”

ATLEE 74, LEE-DAVIS 53
LEE-DAVIS (5-14, 0-10 Capital) — L. Dandridge 3, Harvey 14, Abbott 2, Powell 3, Kunca 0, T. Dandridge 2, Spengler 0, Boone 0, Bolden 4, Clark 9, Bassett 0, Oldaker 0, Boze 3, Holley 13. Totals 22 6-13 53.
ATLEE (9-10, 6-4) — Pulisic 6, Rucker 7, Gray 0, Drayton 16, Ratchford 5, Reiss 33, Rodgers 4, Hurd 0, Snyder 0, Randolph 0, Cridlin 3. Totals 20 26-30 74.
Lee-Davis 11 8 8 26 — 53
Atlee 10 14 23 27 — 74
3-point goals — LD: L. Dandridge, Holley, Boze; A: Reiss 4, Rucker 2, Cridlin, Ratchford.
Highlights — A: Kyle Rodgers 10 rebounds; Bryan Reiss 11 rebounds, 25 point of his 33 points in second half; Kevin Drayton 8 rebounds.