lee takes his turn to lead eagles over powell

It seems the Seymour Eagles have offensive weapons aplenty. 24 hours after junior forward Zach Pace followed his 35-point performance last week with a 19-point outing in a Wednesday win over Campbell County on the first day of the Pilot-Foodmart Winter Classic, senior shooting-guard Derrick Lee acquired the hot-hand and stroked in a game-high 29 points in the Eagles’ exciting 72-69 win over AAA Powell Thursday.

It should also be mentioned that senior forward Duncan Smith is getting into a nice groove as well. The physical part-time football player followed a 16-point performance Wednesday with a 9-point outing on Thursday. However, it’s safe to say the Eagles’ lineup didn’t create a great deal of apprehension from the game-tested, and equally physically-gifted, Panthers.

Powell (9-4) is off to a nice start to the 2006/2007 and entered Thursday’s game with just two losses by a grand total of three points to teams from East Tennessee. The Panthers worst loss of the current campaign was a 64-52 setback to Shelbyville in a Thanksgiving Tournament at Greenville.

This year’s Eagles have shown signs of being perhaps the most potent Seymour boys team since the turn of the century. Thursday’s win over the Panthers gave fans even more of an excuse to be pumped about the current version of the gold and blue clad Eagles. Emerging post players Pace and Carlton Logue create a dynamic duo in the paint.

The sharpshooting Lee, along with steady backcourt contributions from Jeffrey Harmon and John Holland, gives the Seymour squad too many weapons for most local high school squads to deal with. Seymour’s only losses this year came to an undefeated Pigeon Forge squad (twice) and ultra-talented Austin-East. Thursday it appeared the Panthers might have the next best chance at knocking off the Eagles.

Powell boasts one of the highest-regarded starting lineups in Knoxville, led by athletic swing-man Chris Connor. The Eagles held Connor scoreless through the first 12 minutes of game time but couldn’t translate their defensive success into a big lead.

Seymour held a 33-32 advantage after a well-played, competitive first half. The Eagles came out of the locker rooms after halftime and used the third quarter to take control of the game. Lee returned to the court after the break scorching hot and used a big third period to help his team gain some breathing room.

The 6-foot Lee finished the day with seven 3-pointers to his credit, two more than the entire Powell team totaled. The Panthers did manage to make up some ground over the final minutes of the contest but the Eagles were able to hold on for an impressive victory. Powell’s Connor found his groove in the second half and finished with 15 points. The Panthers were led by Jason Seymore’s 18 points. Seymour is scheduled to wrap up play in the Pilot-Foodmart Classic with an afternoon game on Friday.