East Nashville senior Le’Jzae Davidson surveys the floor during the first half of Monday’s Region 5-AA semifinal against Sycamore.
East Nashville senior Le’Jzae Davidson wasn’t the biggest fan of Lipscomb Academy’s gymnasium — the site of this season’s District 10-AA and Region 5-AA tournaments.
That was before Monday’s 70-44 region semifinal win over Sycamore, though.
“It felt pretty good making some shots because lately I haven’t really been making shots in the Lipscomb gym,” Davidson said. “My teammates were getting me the ball at the right time, and I knew when to shoot it or find an open teammate.”
Davidson, a senior Furman signee, posted a double-double on Monday, tallying 20 points and 10 assists in the sectional-clinching victory, while sophomore teammate Kaia Upton added 21 points and four steals in a physical, fast-paced matchup that featured a combined 44 personal fouls.
“We’re really excited that our kids will get to move on to the next level, and going to sectionals is the next level,” said East Nashville coach Lois Donaldson, whose squad first will square off with Cheatham County in Wednesday’s Region 10-AA championship at Lipscomb Academy. “Of course we have our work cut out for us in the region finals.”
East Nashville (27-2), which shot just over 45 percent from the field Monday, outscored Sycamore 21-7 in the second quarter to claim a 33-15 halftime advantage. And while Sycamore made a slight third-quarter push, trimming their deficit to 12 on Colby Hunter’s third consecutive 3-pointer, it was as close as the Lady War Eagles came.
Hunter finished with a team-high 21 points for Sycamore (20-10), which committed 27 turnovers, while teammate Camryn Denney added 11 in the season-ending defeat.
“They forced us into a tempo that we’re not used to running, and it showed up in the first half,” Sycamore coach Derek Denney said. “They put you in a hurry, and that’s not our style of play. When we get in a hurry we turn the ball over, and they were getting easy layups at the other end.”
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-269-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports .