CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — There may have been a few nervous folks inside the Gordon Lee High School gym Friday night with eight seconds to play in a tied Class A first-round playoff game.
Katelyn Lee wasn’t among them. The 6-foot-4 sophomore post stepped to the foul line with the score tied at 50 against eighth-ranked Pace Academy and — putting her last trip to the charity stripe out of her mind — calmly sank two free throws. They turned out to be the deciding points in a 52-50 Gordon Lee win.
“Every time I go to the free-throw line I tell myself I’m going to make it,” said Lee, the birthday girl who had missed the rim on two earlier free throws. “Luckily I did. I tend to drift a bit when I shoot them, so I scooted over a little bit and they went right in. This is definitely a great birthday present to win this game.”
Gordon Lee will play top-ranked Southwest Atlanta Christian in the second round.
Lee might have been the hero, but senior forward Lil Bradbury was the key for the 26-3 Lady Trojans. The one-time state high-jump champion used her skills to good use, securing 21 rebounds and scoring a team-high 17 points, most on putbacks. She had eight first-period points, all on putbacks, as Gordon Lee built a 16-10 lead after one.