By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY  

Daily News

It’s been a tough stretch for the LaGrange Lady Grangers, but there’s still plenty of time to get things headed in the right direction.

LaGrange (7-11 overall) fell to 0-5 in Region 5-AAAA with Saturday’s 44-22 home loss to Sandy Creek, and it will close the first half of its region schedule on Tuesday at home against Chapel Hill.

“We told (the players) Rome wasn’t built in one day,” said Stephen Tuck, LaGrange’s head coach. “We had an injury, we lost some games, and now we’re trying to insert somebody back into the lineup. The beauty of it is, after Tuesday, (the region schedule) starts back over, and you get a chance to improve.”

While the Lady Grangers’ defensive effort on Saturday was solid, they were unable to get much going offensively.

Senior guard Kamelah Kelley, who is back after missing a handful of games with an injury, scored 10 points, and no other LaGrange player had more than four points.

LaGrange was within 10 when Corriah Williams made a 3-pointer in the third quarter before Sandy Creek pulled away.

“I told them we had flashes where we really showed it,” Veal said. “That run we had in the third quarter, they gave us a chance.”

Looking ahead, Tuck said the key will be finding ways to increase the offensive production.

“We want to start putting people in different positions where they’ll be able to succeed, and get the ball in the hands of the shooters in spots where they can shoot, and get the bigs in spots where they can be successful,” Tuck said. “That’s what we’re trying to do. I love the way we play defense. We’ve just got to find different ways to score.”