By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

After a breakthrough win last week, the LaGrange Grangers will try to put together their first winning streak of the season today.

LaGrange dropped a pair of close games to start the season, but it went on the road and beat Northside-Columbus 84-80 in overtime last week.

LaGrange will visit Harris County today, with the girls’ game set to begin at 6 p.m., and the boys’ game to follow.

LaGrange began the season with a 61-60 loss to Newnan, and it fell to Northside 66-61 in its home opener.

On Friday, LaGrange turned the tables on Northside to get win number one.

“This was a really nice win for us,” LaGrange head coach Mark Veal said. “We had a good two days of practice, and we went on the road and beat a good team. I was just so happy for our guys.”

Senior guard Bo Russell led LaGrange with 26 points, and he was 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Daz Williams added 17 points, Jay Benton had 15 points, Covan Huzzie scored 10 points, and Jalen Watson hit two 3-pointers and scored seven points

A number of other players contributed as well, including Lequincy Shepherd.

“He only had three points, but he hit a big free throw to tie it and help extend it to overtime,” Veal said. “He may have had close to 15 rebounds. He was just an animal on the boards, and he took a couple of charges. We were really proud of his effort tonight.”

The Grangers were down 27-14 after the first quarter, and they scored 28 points in each of the next two periods to take a 62-59 lead.

It remained tied in the fourth period, and the Patriots had a chance to win it at the end of the regulation, but a potential game-winning shot missed the target.

Jordan Ogletree, Russell, Benton and Williams each scored in overtime as LaGrange outscored Northside 11-7.

“For all the years that me and coach Scotty (Alexander) have been here, Northside has always been a hard place for us to win,” Veal said. “To get down, and to come back, and to find a way to win was great for our guys.”

Today’s opponent is Harris County (2-6), which has already played eight games.

In one of Harris County’s wins, it exploded for 114 points in a win over Spencer.

LaGrange’s girls’ team evened its record at 2-2 with a 78-44 win over Northside.

The Lady Grangers dropped their first two games, but they’ll take a two-game winning streak into today’s game.

In Friday’s win over Northside, Aryan Dozier exploded for 36 points, with 15 of those points coming in the first quarter.

LaGrange’s teams will finish the week with road games against Callaway on Saturday.

The Troup Tigers will look to improve on their 1-3 record this week.

Troup is coming off a 71-70 overtime loss to Kendrick on Friday, and those same two teams will meet again today in Columbus.

Senior guard Jarrious Jefferson has been filling up the stat book this season.

In the loss to Kendrick, Jefferson scored 27 points, and he had 37 points in a win over Newnan on Nov. 28.

Jefferson also scored 16 points against East Coweta, and he had 23 points in the opener against Spalding County.

Troup’s girls’ team evened its record at 2-2 with a 40-36 win over Kendrick on Friday.

After today’s games, Troup’s teams finish the week with road games against Callaway on Friday.

Callaway’s boys’ team will begin its season with a pair of rivalry games this weekend.

Callaway will host Troup on Friday and LaGrange on Saturday.

Callaway’s girls’ team opened its season on Monday against Whitewater.

LaGrange Academy’s teams will be on the court twice this week.

LaGrange Academy will visit Notre Dame today before hosting the Cottage School on Thursday.

Lafayette Christian School’s boys’ and girls’ teams will visit Harvester on Friday.