Lakeside Boys Fall to Deep Mays Squad

Despite a gritty 20-point performance from guard Tre’Ellis Cooper, the boys basketball team fell to Mays on Tuesday night, 85-51, at the Coretta Scott King Academy gym. An up-and-down game that was dominated by Mays’ impressive depth made sure that the Lakeside roster was not able to keep up with the lightning quick Raiders.

Mays’ length and overall size advantage game the Vikings fits all game long, as the Raiders’ 6-foot-6 jumping jack Colin Cook came away with five blocked shots in the contest. Along with his fellow forward Devarick Houston, Cook sent away Viking shot after shot and altered countless others.

The Vikings (4-10, 1-6 in Region 4-AAAA), down 40-19 at halftime after Jonathan Williams banked in a shot from the opposite three-point line right before the buzzer, kept fighting in the second half but saw their deficit increase. Lakeside rallied at the beginning of the fourth quarter and cut into the lead somewhat, but a rash of turnovers made sure the final margin was over 30 points. 

Cooper started slowly in the game with just two points in the first half, but poured in the rest of his 20 points in the second half, including three three-pointers and a three-point play.

John McKenzie added eight points for the Vikings, and Devian Clark had seven points to go along with several open-court steals and tough defense overall. Frank Tanefo had six points.

Star guard Angelo Cauley, with several big scoring games under his belt so far this season, struggled with turnovers and fouls against Mays’ bigger backcourt. Cauley finished with just four points on the night, and starting forward Nathan Riley, one of the team’s scoring leaders, had just two on a put-back lay-in in the second quarter.

Like the girls, the Vikings handily defeated their rival Druid Hills, 76-60, on January 8 before enduring the long hiatus because of last week’s ice and snow. 

Mays (9-6, 4-2) benefited from strong games by Kendall Leslie (14 points), Houston (12 points), and Homer Causey (10 points). Point guard Arya Strong wowed the crowd with several slick playground-like assists to driving Raider players.

Lakeside travels to meet a tough Southwest DeKalb team on Friday night at 7pm. The Panthers were 8-2 and 4-1 in Region 6-AAAA before Tuesday’s matchup against league foe Carver-Atlanta, and have only lost to nationally ranked Miller Grove in region play.