By JOHN STREIT
Special to The Virginian-Pilot
As Booker T. Washington’s highly touted junior DeShawn Painter struggled to find a rhythm, it became increasingly clear that the Bookers would have to lean on Desmond Lee to right the ship against second-ranked Norcom.
And in the game’s final seconds, he delivered like no other.
With just 30 seconds left, Lee put a bow on a 20-point performance by driving up the baseline against a swarming Norcom interior defense for the go-ahead and game-winning points in Booker T.’s 54-53 home victory over the Greyhounds on Tuesday night.
“I just tried to shift by body towards the baseline more,” Lee said. “I knew my arms were long enough to get the shot off.”
Those two points were all the Bookers needed to grab sole possession of first place and break a three-way tie at the top of the district standings between themselves, Norcom and Churchland, which suffered a 65-57 upset at the hands of Norview.
But even in light of the latest victory in Booker T.’s rollercoaster season, neither Lee nor Bookers coach Darren Sandlerin believe it’s enough to firmly establish themselves at the top, especially with key games against Granby on Friday and Churchland next Tuesday.
“We’ve still got work to do,” Sanderlin said. “In this district here, anybody can get anybody.”
Even with Painter neutralized by the low post tandem of Dominique Hunt and Webster Parker, Booker T. (9-6 overall, 7-1 district) jumped out to a 14-11 first quarter lead and remained in control for much of the contest against the Greyhounds (9-6, 6-2).
While Painter when 0-for-5 with no points in the first half, Lee led a late second quarter charge which saw the Bookers extend their lead to nine points after he hit a 3-pointer followed by a perfect feed from Earl Norfleet for the picturesque layup to make it 28-19.
“(Lee) is one of those players that can do whatever he wants to do out on the floor,” Sanderlin said. “It’s just understanding the game, and I think tonight was his breakout game. He’s showing that he understands when to settle us down, when to take a good shot, when to push it, when not to push it: things point guards need to learn.”
Painter, forced to take on a more defensive roll, broke his drought when he put back a Lee miss for his only field goal in the opening seconds of the second half. He finished the night with five points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
“We’re becoming more acclimated to be able to play when people take (Painter) away,” Sanderlin said. “And he’s becoming more acclimated to say, ‘Okay, if I can’t get the ball, I can go get it off the backboard or be more of a defensive presence.’ ”
A pair of foul shots from Lee, which followed a pair of deep 3-pointers from Quintin Spady, whose four 3’s accounted for all 12 of his points, gave the Bookers their largest margin – 10 points at 46-36 late in the third.
But a 7-2 run to close out the frame pulled the scrappy Greyhounds back to within five at 48-43. After Darius Theus drained two free throws to open the fourth quarter, Ed Porter nailed a rainbow 3 to tie the game for the first time since 2-2 in the first.
After the sides battled to a 51-51 tie, Lee came up with the front end of a pair of foul shots to give Booker T. a 52-51 edge.
With less than a minute remaining, Theus countered with a strong drive up the lane for the layup to give Norcom its first advantage at 53-52 since it led 2-0.
And after a busted possession that forced Sanderlin to call a timeout with 30 seconds remaining, Lee showed the Booker Dome why his team is tops in the Eastern.
“Knowing that (Painter) didn’t have it tonight, we just moved the ball around,” Lee said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons, like Quitin Spady, Earl Norfleet, myself and Lamar Little. This win was big for us. It has our confidence level back up where it should be.”
Theus led the Greyhounds with 19 points, followed by 15 points from Deshaune Green.
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