Special to the Lehigh Acres Gazette by Dick Allen (Click here to see other photos of the game)
the crowd into still another frenzy
Different team, the same ending. It looked like a replay of Lehigh’s Fab. Freshman
Emmitt Williams sending home the crowd into still another frenzy with a one-handed slam dunk (4 for the evening) in the closing seconds in putting the Charlotte Pirates away for good 68-51 last night.
The win, the 26th of the season for the Lehigh Lightning, moves them to the Regional Championship game, two wins away from the Florida State Title. “I think we can win states with the way we’re playing right now, “Williams said after the game. And perhaps rightly so as with 5:22 remaining in the first period he picked up his second foul and sat the rest of the half on the bench.
He watched as his teammates’ turned up the defense and scored 11 straight points closing out the first period as Deljuan Thomas and senior captain Abed Abu-Khadier caught fire. At the half it was 39 – 30, and Lehigh was not about to look back.
Lehigh showed spectacular offense and defensive play from every position especially from off the bench. Sophomore guard Stefan Srawder had 11 points, while Williams led the scoring with 19 points, 11 in the 4th quarter. Head Coach Dawn McNew praised team chemistry and the senior leadership of her point guard Abu-Khadier while echoing Srawder’s comment “We’ve got what it takes if we all show up and play.”
The Lightning will travel to play Jefferson High School in Tampa the winner over Newport Richey Mitchell H.S. 79-65 in the other semifinal game. The Region 6A-3 Championship will be decided this Saturday night in Tampa at 7 PM. The school is looking into a “fan” bus for the trip.
The Lehigh Acres Gazette will let you as soon as possible at that fan bus.