By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Nearly three months ago, the LaGrange Grangers opened their season against Harris County.

They won.

No big deal.

It was a game the Grangers were supposed to win, and they did - easily.

They beat Harris County again a few days later, this time by 45 points.

They were 2-0, but as impressive as both wins were, they’d come against a team that wasn’t that good.

And then came Lithia Springs.

In their third game of the season, the Grangers went on the road and beat a Lithia Springs team that had lost just two regular-season home games in the previous five seasons.

It was a close game, the Grangers won 68-64, and it was noteworthy because the Grangers showed they could beat a quality team on the road.

Then came another road win, this one against Callaway before a packed house at Hogansville Elementary School.

The Grangers followed that up with a 66-29 thumping of Heard County.

After that they won again, and again, and again, and again.

Every time the Grangers walked on to a basketball court, in fact, they won.

They’ve had some close calls, most notably a 45-44 win over Monroe in the second round of the state tournament, but they haven’t lost.

So here they are, on the eve of the state semifinals, the proud owners of a 30-0 record.

“I didn’t think we’d be this far into the season still undefeated, but I’m glad we are,” said Antione Green, one of eight seniors on the team. “It’s been real fun.”

How could it not be when you’re winning every game.

“We’ve enjoyed it a whole lot, everybody on the team,” senior Qua Hardy said.

So how has it happened?

How have the Grangers managed to put together this magical season?

It helps to have eight seniors who have played together for years, and who are each immensely talented, focused and unconcerned with individual numbers.

“No one on the team cares about stats,” Hardy said. “All we care about is winning the game, helping the team.”

In addition to Hardy and Green, the other seniors are Jamius Gunsby, Royal Thomas, Kerun Hill, Martez Johnson, Dionte Mains and Randazzero Chaney.

Gunsby stands out mainly because of his size, he’s 6-foot-5.

The other seniors are all close to the same height, ranging from around six feet to about 6-foot-2.

They’re all ferocious defenders, and they can all run the floor.

Some of them are better suited to scoring from outside, while others like to drive it to the basket.

The one common thread among many of the Grangers’ games this season is their ability, with their depth, to wear teams down and take over down the stretch.

That’s what happened Saturday in a 59-51 win over Dougherty in the state quarterfinals.

“Our pressure, the way we defended all game long, I think finally got to them,” LaGrange head coach Mike Pauley said.

Hardy said each one of the seniors knows his strengths, and his limitations.

“Everybody plays their part. Everybody knows their role,” he said. “We trust each other.”

The familiarity helps.

Hill, Mains, Johnson, and Gunsby have each been on the varsity team since they were freshmen, and the other four guys joined the team over the next two seasons.

“We’ve been playing since we were 13 together. There’s so much chemistry,” Johnson said. “We just put it all together.”

Johnson said “we had that kind of mindset that we’re going to try to improve every year,” and that is what has happened.

The Grangers have gone from 6-20, to 14-13, to 20-9, and now to 30-0.

The seniors have all been in place for two seasons, and the Grangers are 50-9 since then.

Mains said that the players are never satisfied.

Even with a perfect record, he said “I still feel like we can get better. There’s always room for improvement.”

The end of the road is near.

This group has, at the most, two games left to play.

For Green, there’s only one way for this story to end.

“Everybody wants to win the state championship,” he said.