Cluesman Carries Lee High Girls to Victory Over Radford in Quarterfinals

SALEM, Va. – Chelsea Cluesman pumped her fist, let out a yell and received a hug from her head coach.

The moment of joy came after the Lee High star led the Generals to the biggest win in the history of the school’s girls basketball program.

Cluesman had 20 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and two assists as Lee earned a 61-50 victory over Radford on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Virginia High School League
Group A, Division 2 state tournament at the Salem Civic Center.

With the win, Lee (21-6) earned a trip to Richmond for next weekend’s state semifinals.

“It’s big,” Cluesman said. “We’ve never made it to the semifinals before. We just played hard the whole game and made our shots.”

Lee raced out to a 30-16 lead to start the game and held a 10-point edge at halftime. However, Radford (23-5) rallied in the second half.

The Bobcats tied it at 40 in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but Lee took the lead for good on a jumper by Chealsey Brock with 6:29 remaining. Cluesman took over from there as she scored on a variety of drives to the basket and hit some clutch free throws.

Radford had no answer for the talented 5-foot-10 senior.

“She stepped up as a leader and she took it upon herself to get us a bucket,” Lee coach Stephanie Ward said. “I tried to get a timeout or two to break the momentum and regroup.
But they never quit and they withstood. We knew they were going to make their runs, but we handled it.”

Jalan McPherson added 16 points for Lee and hit four 3-pointers in the opening quarter. Meanwhile, freshman Makenzie Cluesman finished with 12 points and four rebounds.

“We just played like champions. We played well with a lot of focus and confidence,” Ward said. “We withstood the press and I thought that was a key.”

Maryah Sydnor had 13 points and nine rebounds for Radford, but the Bobcats shot just 17-of-55 from the field and 4-of-16 from 3-point range.

While the cavernous Salem Civic Center has been known to wreak havoc on some squads’ shooting and feel for the game, it felt just like home for Chelsea Cluesman.

“It’s a lot bigger than what we are used to playing in,” Cluesman said. “But it was awesome playing in it.”