5 Takeaways from Lafayette vs Lincoln County
I was in attendance for the season opening contest between the Lafayette Generals and Lincoln County Patriots and came away with a few thoughts and analysis after a game that was tight for three quarters before Lafayette pulled away in the last three minutes.
1. Where were the fans? There were maybe 100 people in attendance at the game, including about 10 Lafayette students who couldn’t be bothered to stand up or get off their phones during the game. There was apparently a huge crowd for the Fredrick Douglass/Henry Clay game across town but that doesn’t explain the low numbers at Lafayette. The Generals should be good this season. Hopefully more fans show up to support them as the season rolls along.
2. Ray Surratt is pretty darn good. Big Ray appears to have grown to about 6’10” since the summer and is going to be a matchup problem for everyone in the city. Surratt finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds and probably didn’t play more than half the game due to some foul issues and Lafayette rotating a lot of bodies.
3. Lincoln County will be really good…a year from now. The Patriots started a senior, a junior, a sophomore, a freshman and an 8th grader on Tuesday night. Their bench included a junior, a freshman and a sophomore. Coach Jeff Jackson has a very young team but they are skilled and have some length and athleticism. They could surprise some folks by the time February rolls around but next season they will be regional contenders again and could make a run at state in 2 years.
4. Lincoln County Senior Chase Phillips will score a lot of points this year. Chase was scoring the ball at all levels on opening night. He got to the rim and challenged the bigger Surratt and he knocked down 3s from deep. Phillips is obviously skilled and he will have to be the go to scorer for the Patriots. Chase appears to be capable.
5. When Lafayette is hitting 3s, they’re capable of big runs. The game was tight all the way until the last 4 minutes when Lafayette started pouring in 3s from all over the floor. Eric Powell and Cameron King are the most deadly shooters but there were at least 5 Generals who hit from deep over the course of the night.