By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

NEWNAN – The LaGrange Lady Grangers did a lot of good things in Tuesday’s season opener against Newnan.

The Lady Grangers struggled to find their rhythm from the free-throw line, and they were unable to overcome that in a 62-47 to the Newnan Lady Cougars.

The Lady Grangers got to the free-throw line 32 times, but they only made nine of those attempts.

“It tells me you’re playing good basketball, you’re getting good shots, you’re getting fouled,” LaGrange head coach Stephen Tuck said. “Those are the things you want to do. You want to get to the free-throw line. But getting to the free-throw line is not enough. You’ve got to be able to convert the free throws.”

Aryan Dozier led LaGrange with 16 points, and Monaysia Harden came off the bench and scored 12 points.

“I was looking for a spark off the bench,” Tuck said. “And (Harden) always has the capability of putting the ball in the basket really well. So she came in, and that’s what she did.”

Newnan led 31-22 at the half, and it was able to pull away from LaGrange in the second half.

“They almost come out, and they always play hard,” Tuck said of Newnan. “They’re really, really disciplined in what they do.”

It was a tough opponent, and that’s what Tuck wants for his team.

“Your goal is to be playing your best basketball when region begins,” Tuck said. “So you want to play people that are going to give you a challenge, and you want to see different types of things, different types of defenses.”