Fulton's 6-1 senior went for 17 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, leading the Hornets to a 73-56 win over the rival Bulldogs in both teams' last game before district play kicks off this week.
"We got beat by a better team, Verdis Lee's a heck of a player... They just beat our butt," said Mexico head coach Brennan Scanlon, whose team finished the regular season with a 16-7 record. "It starts with Verdis, and then (Wilson) Christensen killed us on the boards. When you can't stop them on the perimeter, and you can't stop them in the paint, your chances of winning aren't good."
While Lee was solid in the first half, his running mate, Christensen, a 6-4 senior forward, was null and void the first 16 minutes of the ball game, registering only 1 point and had no presence inside. That made for a close game in the first half, as Mexico got off to a great start, jumping out to an 11-5 lead thanks to five quick points from 5-8 junior guard Sam Kelly.
Unfortunately for both Mexico and Kelly, it would be the last points for Kelly, and that would be the last big lead for the Bulldogs, who watched Lee pick the team a apart after a slow start, as he slashed to the basket, drawing fouls along the way as the Hornets went into halftime with a 25-23 lead.
In the second half, after Fulton head coach Darrell Davis had a pep talk with his senior big man at the half, Christensen responded with 12 points, inlcuding several nice turnaround jumpers and the Hornets cruised the rest of the half, leading by as many as 21 midway through the fourth quarter.
Lee, who had been fouled on several breakaway drives in the second half, drove the lane in the fourth quarter and punctuated the Hornet win with a right-handed slam over two Mexico defenders.
"We're playing good basketball right now," Davis said as his team prepares for district play.
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