By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

As the LaGrange Grangers boarded the bus for Saturday’s trip to Cedartown, head coach Mark Veal had one goal, and that was to return home with a win.

Whether it was by one point or 20, Veal said “we would have been tickled pink” with a victory.

It wasn’t easy, but the unbeaten Grangers accomplished that goal.

LaGrange improved to 15-0 overall and 2-0 in the region with a hard-earned 45-41 win over Cedartown.

The Bulldogs made a late push to get within one, but the Grangers made some late free throws to seal it and keep their perfect record intact.

The victory capped a winning weekend for LaGrange, which opened region play with a 54-52 victory over Central-Carroll on Friday.

“You go on the road, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Veal said. “Anytime you can come away with a win it’s great, especially when you’re in region play.”

DJ Burks had a big game for the Grangers with 19 points, and he made four 3-pointers.

Javon Brown added 16 points, with eight points in the first quarter, and Earley Sanders scored seven points.

Sanders scored five of those points in the fourth quarter to help the Grangers prevail.

“This is one of the better Cedartown teams they’ve had, and to go up there and win was really nice for our guys, especially after a hard-fought game (Friday) night,” Veal said.

Things don’t get any easier this week for the Grangers, who have three challenging region games.

After hosting Cartersville on Tuesday, LaGrange visits rival Troup on Friday, and that will be the first game in Troup’s new gym.

LaGrange finishes the week on Saturday with a home game against one of the state’s top Class AAAA teams, Sandy Creek.

“We’ll be happy tonight, and we’ll move on tomorrow, because we’ve got a big week next week,” Veal said.

GIRLS GAME: A difficult fourth quarter proved to be LaGrange’s undoing in a 49-40 loss to Cedartown.

It was tied 34-34 through three quarters, and Cedartown outscored LaGrange 15-6 in the final eight minutes to win going away.

Ayanna Ramsey made three 3-pointers and led LaGrange in scoring eight nine points, and Chaquave’ayr Robinson added eight points, all in the second half.

Madison Coverson contributed seven points, and Carmen Lynch and Corriah Williams scored six points apiece. Williams made two 3-pointers.

LaGrange will host Cartersville on Tuesday as it looks for its first region win of the season.

After visiting Troup on Friday, LaGrange finishes the week with home games against Sandy Creek on Saturday.

Sandy Creek has won three straight region titles.