By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – They took down number one.

Heading into Tuesday’s game, Chapel Hill was tied for the top spot in Region 5-AAAA, but they hold that position no longer after falling to the LaGrange Lady Grangers 41-34.

It was an important win for LaGrange (13-10 overall), which remained tied for third place in the region with a 7-4 record.

With one regular-season game remaining on Thursday at Cartersville, LaGrange can still finish second to fourth in the region.

LaGrange has won four of its past five games, with the only loss coming on Saturday at region-leading Sandy Creek.

“We had that bump in the road (at Sandy Creek), but I think we’re playing at a high level right now,” LaGrange coach Stephen Tuck said.

Aryan Dozier led LaGrange with 22 points, and she scored 10 points in the first quarter.

Shania Woodard, one of the seniors who was honored following the game, had 11 points, and eight of her points came in the first half.

The Lady Grangers started quickly and led 16-7 after the first period, and they were ahead 22-11 at the half.

LaGrange led by as many as 13 points early in the third period, and it was on top 29-20 heading to the final quarter.

The Lady Grangers were still ahead by nine points with a little more than two minutes to play, but the Lady Panthers didn’t go away.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Breanna Stephens cut LaGrange’s lead to 34-32 with 1:10 to play.

That’s as close as Chapel Hill came.

Dozier made a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left to push the lead back to four.

After Chapel Hill missed a 3-pointer, Dozier made two more free throws, and LaGrange was head 38-32 with 19 seconds left.

Chapel Hill came no closer than four points the rest of the way.