Lee Boys' Basketball

'Goody-Goody' Granger Steps Up
By B.J. Koubaroulis
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, December 22, 2007; E07

Lee senior Alex Granger had never been in trouble at school until Tuesday, when he was issued an in-school suspension for having a cellphone in class. The daylong detention meant he missed the Lancers' basketball game that night and earned some ridicule from his teammates.

"He's a goody-goody," sophomore forward Walter Griffin said of Granger.

Last night, in a 54-47 upset of No. 18 Lake Braddock, Granger was better than good.

The guard scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Lancers (6-1, 1-0) earned their first victory over the Bruins (4-1, 0-1) since joining to the Patriot District in 2005.

Granger made a pair of three-pointers and added two layups in less than five minutes to help Lee rally from an 11-point deficit.

Entering last night's game, Lee was 0-4 against Lake Braddock and had lost those games by an average margin of 22.5 points.

"I'm sure that people still don't know me, but I'm not worried about that," said Granger, who had 19 points this season before last night. "We are one of those teams that we have so many weapons, it's going to come from somewhere."

Granger replaced starter Andres Vitola, who was benched for drawing a technical foul.

Vitola was just one of several Lancers to become frustrated as they failed to score for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter and fell behind, 44-33.

Then Granger entered and the Lancers outscored the Bruins 21-3 in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.

"It's a tribute to him because he hasn't gotten a lot of minutes before this, but he's stuck with it," Lee Coach Mike Harris said.

Lee's fourth consecutive victory helped the Lancers match their win total from last season's disappointing 6-15 finish. Lee is just 13-37 since 2005.

"This means something to the program and the fans," Griffin said. "We want to show them that we are here to work."

As for Granger, he says he has no plans to bring his cellphone back to school.

"I was putting it in my backpack," said Granger, who missed Lee's 54-43 win at Robinson. "But the rule is, if the teacher sees it, you get an automatic suspension. That's the first time I've ever had a suspension. It will never happen again."

Lee 54, No. 18 Lake Braddock 47

300 Club: Lake Braddock Coach Brian Metress was honored before Tuesday's win over Westfield for earning his 300th win in the Bruins' first game of the season. Lee Coach Mike Harris, in his 14th season, won his 290th last night.

Free Throw Woes: Lake Braddock was 15 of 25 from the free throw line and committed 18 turnovers.