By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The LaGrange Grangers went toe-to-toe with a strong Chapel Hill team on Tuesday night before falling 64-55.

LaGrange was within one with 2:30 to play, but Chapel Hill went on a 10-0 run to put it away.

LaGrange (17-2 overall) finished the first half of its Region 5-AAAA schedule with a 4-2 record.

“We just couldn’t finish, and we lost our composure,” said Mark Veal, LaGrange’s head coach.

Javon Brown led the Grangers with 14 points, and DJ Burks and Kobe Jones had 11 points apiece.

K.J. Doucet paced Chapel Hill with 20 points, and Micah Bell added 18 points.

The game was close most of the way, and it was tied 43-43 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Grangers had a 49-47 lead with 5:27 left when Brown made two free throws, but Bell answered with a 3-pointer moments later to give the Panthers a one-point advantage.

Chapel Hill was ahead by five with 3:25 to go when LaGrange scored four consecutive points to get within one.

After Brown’s basket with 2:30 to play made it a 54-53 game, though, Chapel Hill took control.

LaGrange didn’t score again until Kiias Hodnett made two free throws with four seconds to play.

“They’re a good team, and we played well in spurts, we just have to keep our composure,” Veal said.

In the girls’ game, LaGrange was unable to get anything going offensively on the way to a 32-14 loss.

In a low-scoring first half Central had a 12-6 lead, and LaGrange trailed 18-10 heading into the final quarter.

Needing to find an offensive spark to get back in the game, LaGrange was limited to four points in the fourth quarter.

LaGrange’s teams visit Central-Carroll on Saturday, with the girls’ game starting at 3 p.m. and the boys’ game to follow.