Athlete of the Week: Menlo’s Avery Lee

Menlo School sophomore Avery Lee isn’t worried about such infamy. More important to the girls’ basketball point guard is getting the best out of her Lady Knights.

“Avery Lee is both our physical leader on the court, but she’s also our emotional leader,” Menlo head coach John Paye said. “The smile that’s on her face after our big wins is just exhilarating because she just has that energy, jumping up and down.”

Lee brought plenty of emotion and energy into Saturday’s CIF Division II Girls’ Basketball State Championship game at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. And the sophomore nearly had an immortal stat line, falling one assist and two rebounds shy of a triple-double. She settled for 15 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

The assists were the catalyst in getting Menlo rolling. The Knights knocked down five 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a 70-63 win over Rolling Hills Prep-San Pedro. Being one assist away from a double-double, though, didn’t bother her in the least.

“Nah, I think I’m good with it,” Lee said.

Two Menlo players did go on to double-double performances. Sophomore forward Coco Layton totaled 17 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman center Sharon Nejad had 12 and 10. Nonetheless, Lee has been named Daily Journal Athlete of the Week for setting the whole championship performance in motion.

Sophomore forward Maeia Makoni hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter, while Layton added two. Of those five 3s, Lee earned assists on four of them, using her reputation as the team’s leading scorer this season — averaging 17 points per game — to draw defenders and continually find the hot hand around the perimeter.

“Right when I went into the key, I saw Coco or Maeia … all were open on the wings,” Lee said. “Right when I passed it, I had a lot of faith it was going in. I just trusted my teammates and that goes a long way.”

Lee, herself, nearly had a three-point play on Menlo’s first points of the game. Rolling Hills took its only lead of the afternoon at 2-0 then came up with a stop at the other end. Lee, though, took the ball right back with a steal and drew a foul while finishing off a layup in transition. She missed the ensuing free throw but went on to score six points in the opening quarter.

Menlo shot 5 of 13 on 3-point attempts in the quarter to go up 21-9, a lead they used to hold off Rolling Hills. It was a big enough margin to lift the Knights, who were outscored in the second and third quarters, and outscored Rolling Hills by a slim 19-17 margin in the fourth.

Lee continued to keep the defense honest, driving into traffic, willing to take on double-teams in the paint while putting up difficult, physical shots. She shot just 4 of 15 from the floor throughout but continued to impact the game in other facets.

“Tonight I had kind of an off-shooting night,” Lee said. “So that just means I have to do something else, whether it be rebounding or … creating opportunities for my teammates.”

Those opportunities led Menlo to its first state championship in 28 years. The last time the Knights were the last team standing, they won the title in the Division V tournament for three straight years from 1989-91.

Expectations were high during that original dynasty. Not the case this year with Menlo’s youthful roster.

“I did not really see this coming,” Lee said. “But as the season progressed, we were winning a lot of games, and we got second (place) in league which was huge. And we won a bunch of preseason games. But just taking it one game at a time … we built upon what we needed to improve upon, or what we thrive at.”

Lee personified that youth as one of three sophomore starters. With the freshman Nejad and the junior Makoni rounding out the lineup, Menlo will return its entire starting five next season.

“We definitely have a lot more expectations now,” Lee said. “But I think every person on this team is going to take up that challenge of just sticking together as tight as we are.”