Sports Editor

Upson-Lee Middle School's boys basketball team was eliminated from the first round of the playoffs last week with a 44-41 loss on the road to Lamar County.

The Knights opened the game 11-3 and still led 16-10 at the end of the first quarter thanks to six first-quarter points from Gavion Baker and seven from Jacarus Carthon.

Lamar County then won the middle parts of the game as they battled back to tie the game at 24 at halftime and built a small third-quarter lead. Upson-Lee turnovers and Lamar County rebounds then began to pile up, and a last second three pointer was no good, giving the Trojans the three-point win.

Carthon led the team with 13 points while Keldric Searcy scored 11 and Baker added 10.

"I'm really proud of my guys," said Head Coach Erik Rechtorovic. "They worked really hard all year long and made a big improvement from years past."

The Knights finish the season with an overall record of 9-5.