Josey head coach Sam Lilly felt nervous coming into Saturday night's Region 7-AA championship matchup. He did not know if it was the game or his 40th birthday that made him feel this way.
It must have been the birthday, as his players showed no signs of nervousness as they easily defeated Morgan County 61-43, for a memorable sweep for the Eagles. The girls earlier beat Laney to win their tournament.
"My players actually calmed me down in the early going," Lilly said. "We knew that we had to come out and shut down their big scorers. Our team handled our business and executed our game plan flawlessly."
Dominique Archie got things going in the first quarter. With four points already, Archie made a strong move to the basket drew the foul on the lay up. His free throw put the Eagles up 14-9 after a period.
The second quarter saw the Josey defense clamp down. Back-to-back turnovers propelled the Eagles to an 8-2 run. With 5:32 to go in the half, Morgan County's Jerell Griffin fell awkwardly to the ground and went out with an injured knee. Without the inside pressence, Josey pushed the ball inside and ran their lead halftime lead to 30-18.
Joshua Adams led the second half attack for the Eagles. With Morgan County's inside game hurting, Adams collected 12 of Josey's 17 points in the third period. Archie also chipped in with a 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 47-35 with just a period to play.
Archie led all scorers with 21, and Adams added 18 on the night.
Germaine Bly led Morgan County with 15 points. At the end of the game there were congratulations all around.
"You see what an event like this can do for a community. I am glad that our school helped make it happen," Lilly said.
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