Upon Further Review

One team actually. Or, at least one team that may need to see a shrink to help decipher its multiple personalities.

And while Paul Hatcher, the Alpha and Omega of high school basketball in the area, usually takes care of the business himself, some extra time on the couch may be needed. Because it’s tough to get a handle on this latest version of talent under Hatcher’s thumb at R.E. Lee.

For starters, they look impressive. Just take the Leemen’s first five minutes of their win over Stuarts Draft last week when they ran out to a 12-2 lead and looked like world-beaters. Of course, the following few minutes after their opening run, the Leemen looked very human. Credit has to go to the Cougars who either finally decided to start taking smart shots on their own, or were spurned on by coach Mike Gale showing them the proper technique to shoot a 3 when he hurled his clipboard to the ground after a timeout. But not all the credit.

Lee, for some reason or another in that game last week, slowed itself down and let the Cougars dictate the speed of the game. Yeah, in short spurts, Stuarts Draft can keep up with Lee. But not in the marathon match that is a basketball game and, as the time wound off the clock, the Leemen extended their lead.

Draft found out that playing catch up with any team coached by Hatcher is, well, probably not the best recipe for winning out there.

So Dae’Quan Scott put it best: “We just played basketball, that’s all we did,“ he said after beating Draft.

Yeah, and those first five minutes didn’t hurt much either.

Friday was a whole other matter, this time against Rockbridge. After jumping out to a 20-10 lead, the Wildcats were able to scrape their way back into the game, heading into the locker room down 34-28 after cutting the Lee lead to two.

“We came out a little flat and had to pick it up a lot,“ said senior JR Gray.

Um, yeah, ya’ think?

Then Saturday all the Leemen did was run defending Group AA (Division 3?) champ Millbrook out of the gym with yet-another-statement-making win, this time winning 72-48 with Gray, easily the area’s best dressed basketball player, scoring 19 points.

With the postseason just around the corner and the Southern Valley, barring a major collapse, almost locked up for Lee, you gotta hope that the Millbrook win signals the start of a new late-season mindset for the Leemen.

Mainly, continuing to take names and kick butts.

So, let me ask again, who says this Southern Valley is weak?

Speaking of the Southern Valley: Playing three games in a week is never considered easy — even in a “weak” Southern Valley — so after dropping back-to-back games to Lee (we can see that, obviously) and Wilson Memorial (Whaaatt?!? Hey, Wilson’s a good team and all, but if you want to compete in this Southern Valley, you best not be losing to Group A schools, let along Group A schools your parents hate because, back in the day, they used to go the same school), the Cougars managed to salvage the week with a win over Fort Defiance.

Don’t look now, but Coty Randolph took the week to really come into his own for the Cougars. After dropping 16 on Wilson, he followed with 19 against Lee and 22 against Fort Defiance.

His points over Lee came on an array of dipsy-doo floaters, double-pumping treys and arm-flailing layups. Against Fort, he scored all those points with an Indian or two in his face every time he touched ball.

Oh, you better believe he felt the heat: “They never stopped putting the pressure on me,“ he said.

But it was the Indians that got burned.

Paging Stuarts Draft girls. Paging Stuarts Draft girls. Your table is ready.

With R.E. Lee dominating the Southern Valley wrestling mat, it’s easy to overlook what Adam Davis is doing for Stuarts Draft. The freshman. Yes, freshman, has a 25-2 record and picked up some gold at last weekend’s Cougar Classic.

“I just wanted to do exceptional this year,“ he said.

Soooo, that seems to working out for ya.

Oh, and it’s working out for another Cougar — Austin Sanchez.

Did we mention he’s a freshman? No? OK, then here it is: They’re both freshman.

Last question: If the Leemen keep playing like they did against Millbrook, is there any telling how far this team can go?

We’ll hang up and wait for your reply.