From staff reports

The LaGrange Grangers did what they had to do Tuesday night.

The Grangers, who are still in line for a No. 2 seed in the Region 2-AAA tournament next week, defeated the Carver Tigers 81-74 and kept pace with Northside for the second slot.

The Grangers and the Patriots are both 8-3 in the region with one game left.

With a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, Carver stormed back to come within two points, but the Grangers were able to hit their free throws and put the game away.

Jamius Gunsby led LaGrange with 29 points, followed by Royal Thomas with 14 and Deuntae Terry with 10.

The win was LaGrange’s third in a row heading into Friday’s regular-season finale against Troup.

Northside will host Carver today in its final regular-season game.

The Lady Grangers weren’t able to add to their two-game winning streak, falling to a strong Carver team 59-34.

While Lady Grangers head coach Jan Jones said her team’s deficit was under 10 points for much of the game, Carver’s depth and talent took over late.

Carver outscored La-Grange 20-8 in the fourth quarter to pull away.

“We played well, but we couldn’t catch a break,” Jones said. “Some shots just wouldn’t fall, but we played well defensively.”

Arneshia Williams led LaGrange with 12 points, followed by Markia Dallas with 10 and Terryuana Godwin with seven.

LaGrange fell to 3-8 in Region 2-AAA, and will likely earn a No. 6 seed in the region tournament, which begins Monday.