After beating host Sandy Creek 48-40 Thursday night in the semifinals of the Region 5-AAAA tournament, the Lady Grangers (21-6) have earned a title shot, and they’ll take on Fayette County at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The game will be played at Sandy Creek.
Sandy Creek is the tournament’s top seed and it had beaten LaGrange twice in the regular season, but the tables were turned in the third meeting.
The Lady Grangers had a one-point lead through three periods, but they dominated the action in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
“They beat us twice during the regular season, so we just had to go back and kind of draw some things up to help shut them down,” LaGrange head coach Jan Jones said. “We had a game plan, and we stuck to it. We forced them to shoot the ball from the outside, and we rebounded.”
Brittany Tatum paced LaGrange with 18 points, KaBrenna Smith added nine points, and Steara Mitchell scored nine.
Smith scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, and she made a pair of free throws late that helped ice the game.
Although freshman Chetaya Tucker didn’t do much in the scoring department, she still play a key role.
“She’s earned her way up to a starting position because of her defense and her rebounding,” Jones said. “She’s good for a few points here or there in a ballgame, but for us she’s in there solely for defense.”
Also, Andrea Heflin came off the bench and provided some key points.
“She came in when there was a lot of pressure on Brittany and Steara and hit a wide-open three,” Jones said. “When that happens, it causes other teams to have to focus on somebody else.”
The Lady Grangers opened their tournament stay with a 45-39 victory over Carrollton, and they’ve now won two tournament games by being the better team in the fourth quarter.
“The biggest thing with Sandy Creek and Carrollton, there at the end, we’ve been able to keep our composure down the stretch,” Jones said. “During the fourth quarter we had the lead, and we’ve been able to keep the lead, and keep our composure.”
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