By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

The LaGrange Academy Warriors played one of their best games of the season earlier this week in the consolation round of the GISA Region 4-AA tournament.

Facing Furtah Prep, the Warriors rode the 29-point effort of Jordan Ring to a resounding victory.

Today in the opening round of the Class AA state tournament, the Warriors will try to continue that momentum when they face Memorial Day in an opening-round matchup at LaGrange Academy.

Tip time is 4 p.m.

“If we can keep playing like that, we would have a good shot at making a run at state,” LaGrange Academy head coach Matt Dalrymple said.

Memorial Day finished second in the Region 2-AA tournament to qualify for state.

Dalrymple said Memorial Day is “very, very athletic, a lot more athletic than we are. If we can jump out and try to control the tempo, we’ll have a good chance to win.”

While Dalrymple said the Warriors won’t rush things on the offensive end, they won’t be content to sit back and play a zone defense.

Just as they did against Furtah, the Warriors will come out in a full-court press today and try to get out to an early lead.

“We’ll just kind of get a feel for how they handle that,” Dalrymple said.

The coach also hopes Ring continues his hot play.

Ring has been putting up huge numbers on offense of late, including the 29-point outburst against Furtah.

“Jordan has been playing really well lately,” Dalrymple said. “He’s kind of stepped it up a notch. We need Jordan to have a big game today.”

The Warriors will have the home-court edge, which Dalrymple feels could benefit his players.

“It helps with the normal nerves at state,” he said. “Playing at home, it’s not as nerve-wracking as it usually is. Today’s just a normal day for them going to school.”

The winner of today’s game faces either Sherwood Christian or Piedmont on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Middle Georgia College in Cochran.

Also today, the Dawson Street Christian School Wildcats will begin what they hope will be another nice state run when they play Bethesda at 5:30 p.m. at South Georgia College in Douglas.

A year ago, the Wildcats won two state games and made it to the Class A semifinals.

A lot of the faces are different, but the Wildcats have been just as successful.

Despite a loss to Oak Mountain the semifinals of the Region 4-A tournament, the Wildcats have had a tremendous season with just three losses.

The Wildcats (17-3) have been led by the sharp-shooting Patrick Merriwether, who has made 30-point games seem routine this season.

In a victory over Oak Mountain in the regular season, Merriwether had 42 points, including 27 points in one quarter alone.

“I thought this year, after having a senior-loaded team, we’d step back,” Dawson Street head coach Albert Jackson said. “With him showing up, we’ve continued to thrive.”

Dawson Street also have a dominant inside player in Huron Bright.

The Wildcats will have their hands full today, though.

Bethesda is the state’s second-ranked Class A team, and it finished second in Region 2-A to the state’s top-ranked team, First Presbyterian.

If the Wildcats survive today, they would play either Fullington or John Hancock on Saturday at 4 p.m. at South Georgia.