By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

The LaGrange Grangers turned the tables on Cedartown.

Earlier this month, LaGrange was riding high with a six-game winning streak when it went to Cedartown and lost 55-41.

Those same two teams faced off on Saturday afternoon at LaGrange, and it was a different story the second time around.

The Grangers got off to a quick start and led by 20 points at the half, and they eased their way to a 58-44 victory in a Region 5-AAAA game.

The Grangers (15-6 overall) improved to 5-2 in the region, and they remained in second-place behind Cartersville.

LaGrange head coach Mark Veal wasn’t sure what to expect from his team on Saturday considering how much time the players had taken off.

The Grangers hadn’t played in more than a week, and their practice schedule had been drastically curtailed because of the winter storm.

There were no signs of rust, though, as the Grangers surged to a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, and they were up 33-13 at the half.

“We didn’t play well up there, and we’ve been off for a week with only one practice,” Veal said. “So you never know what you’re going to get after a layoff like that.”

On the flip side, Veal knew his players would be rested and ready to go.

“You’re going to be fresh,” Veal said. “We had some injuries we got healed up.”

Bo Russell led the Grangers with 15 points, Jordan Ogletree added nine points, Jalen Parker scored seven points, and Covan Huzzie made two 3-pointers and had six points.

Vondez Taylor scored five points, all in the fourth quarter, and Daz Williams also had five points.

Nine of the 13 Grangers who played scored.

In the opening quarter, Russell scored seven points to help the Grangers take a 16-9 lead.

In the second quarter, six players scored, and Huzzie, Williams and Parker each made 3-pointers as the Grangers overwhelmed the Bulldogs to go up 33-13 at the break.

The Bulldogs came to life in the third quarter, outscoring the Grangers by seven to cut the deficit to 42-29.

Cedartown hung around for a while in the fourth quarter, but it never got closer than 13 points.

“It was a great first half,” Veal said. “The second half wasn’t as good defensively, and offensively we could have done some things better. But a region win’s a region win.”