SACCO: Lee’s engine purrs

STAUNTON

With R.E. Lee having the game well put away, freshman Angela Mickens stood at the top of the key and dribbled the ball as the waning seconds of the third quarter tick-tocked off the clock.

Finally, she cut to the right, sliced her way through the lane and hit a layup.

Her bucket made it 53-22 entering the final stanza.

Her bucket proved what coach Jeremy Hartman has been saying all season long — that silky smooth freshman is the centerpiece.

The rock.

“She’s the engine,” he said, “that makes us go.”

And where this ride stops, nobody knows yet. But after watching the Lee Ladies hammer Rockbridge 64-37 in the first round of the Southern Valley Tournament on Tuesday, there’s no doubt that no matter how long the 2008-09 ride is, it’s going to be fun.

It’s going to be exciting.

It’s going to be, well, Lee being Lee – a team without a single senior on a roster full of youthful cockiness that you’ll have to wipe off the hardwood before the season comes to an end.

“We have confidence,” Mickens said, talking well beyond her 15 years of age. “We can stay humble. We have the confidence and the talent to get us where we want to go.”

And where would that be, Miss Mickens?

It’s simple really, even before the season started and this group of Lee Ladies were jumping around gyms playing AAU ball, the scuttlebutt became a cup-the-rim-of-your-mouth shout.

“Look out,” it seemed to scream from the rafters, “this team is going to be good.”

Mickens’ play in her first postseason game said it all.

Seventeen points from her freshman hands to go along with seven steals.

In her nine-point first quarter, she had back-to-back steals that ended in coast-to-coast layups. On the final of that pair, she drew the foul and hit the free throw.

Silky.

During the Lee Ladies’ third-quarter 11-0 run, Mickens threw in eight of the points – all coming from layups.

Smooth.

Remember, she’s a freshman.

“Age is nothing,” she said, showing the hint of a smile through the business-like demeanor this Lee Lady team wears like a Snuggie. “If you got talent, age don’t make a difference.”

And young talent is something Lee has in surplus. Against Rockbridge, sophomore Daquaa Scott chipped in 14 points and freshman Kemani Crawford added 11.

They’re going to grow, folks. The rest of this year and the next and so on until they all graduate. And they’re going to get better. They know this, which explains the punch-clock attitude.

“It is a job,” Mickens said. “We came here to do a job and we got the job done. Now, we’re closer to our goal.”

And, do tell Miss Mickens, what would that goal be?

“Our state championship.”

We mentioned confidence, right?