Grangers win fourth straight
Published 11:50 pm Tuesday, February 2, 2021
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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
Kobe Jones poured in 24 points as the streaking LaGrange Grangers outlasted visiting Jordan 55-50 in a Region 2-AAAA showdown on Tuesday night.
LaGrange (10-6 overall) won its fourth straight game while improving to 3-1 in region play heading into Friday’s showdown at Troup.
LaGrange closes the regular season with region games against Spencer, Carver and Hardaway next week.
The Grangers found themselves in a 6-0 hole early in Tuesday’s game, and they were down 15-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The Grangers found their footing and led 23-22 at the half, and they rallied to build a 44-36 cushion at the end of three quarters.
Jordan hung around and finished the game on an 8-0 run, but the game ultimately went LaGrange’s way.
“The way the pace was going early was not to our benefit,” LaGrange head coach Mark Veal. “They pretty much controlled the first quarter, and then we made a momentum run, and the second half we were pretty much in control, we just couldn’t put them away.”
Jordan had no answer for Jones, a junior guard who was able to seemingly get to the basket at will, and he scored 10 points in the third quarter when the Grangers outscored the Red Jackets 21-14 to take an eight-point lead.
Avery Hill added eight points while making two 3-pointers, Javon Brown scored eight points, and AJ Traylor had seven points.
The Grangers, after trailing for most of the first half, took a 19-18 lead with 2:35 left in the second quarter on a Brown basket.
The Grangers maintained that lead for the rest of the quarter, and they were ahead 23-22 at the half.
The Red Jackets reclaimed the lead early in the second half, but the Grangers went on an 18-8 run to go up 41-32 with 1:10 left in the third quarter.
The Grangers were ahead 44-36 after three quarters, and they built their lead to 55-42 with 54 seconds to play in the game.
Jordan scored the game’s final eight points to make the final score more respectable.