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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

CARROLLTON – The short-handed LaGrange Lady Grangers hung tough with Central-Carroll through the first two quarters, but they were unable to keep pace in the second half.

LaGrange, playing without injured senior guards Kamelah Kelley and Chaquave’ayr Robinson, lost to Central 51-37 after trailing by two points at the half.

It was a tough loss for the Lady Grangers (7-13 overall) who fell to 0-7 in Region 5-AAAA, but head coach Stephen Tuck saw plenty of positives.

“I told our girls, it’s something that we can build on,” Tuck said. “The first half, we can build on that. I told them y’all played hard, y’all were hitting shots. We were coming off a game where we scored 14 points, and they scored 20 points in a half.

“They played together. They found one another, they found good shots. That’s all I ever ask of them.”

Playing without Kelley and Robinson presents a major challenge for LaGrange, not only due to their offensive production, but because of their ability to handle the ball.

Tuck hopes both players will return, perhaps in time for the region tournament.

“What I’m telling my team, is be prepared to play the rest of the season without them,” Tuck said. “If they’re able to come back for the region tournament, now I have players that have grown, and you add two players to that. Anything can happen in the region tournament. All of the sudden you’re all full strength. All the sudden things are happening.”

Madison Coverson led LaGrange in scoring against Central-Carroll with eight points, and Kylah Campbell, Corriah Williams and Holly Lynn had six points apiece.