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By Ethan Strang

The short-handed LaGrange Academy Warriors girls basketball team could not overcome the odds Tuesday as they fell to the Piedmont Academy Cougars 57-18 in their final home game of the regular season. The Warriors only had five active players; their leading scorer Kelsey Cotton missed the game with a lower leg injury.

The Warriors could not buy a basket and did not even score a point until junior guard Kayla McBride sunk a 3-pointer at the 3:10 mark in the second quarter. McBride led the Warriors with nine points.

LaGrange Academy had no answers for the Cougars zone defense.

There was no rest for the weary as the Warriors had no substitutes on the bench, which forced the five starters to play all 30 minutes of the game. The mercy rule was implemented which turned the fourth quarter in to only six minutes with a running clock. One positive the Warriors can take from this game is the fact they won the fourth quarter 5-2.    

Despite the fact that their team was down 20-0 at the end of the first quarter, the home crowd was engaged until the final whistle, cheering on every time the ball went through the net for the Warriors. 

An injury to sophomore forward Ellie Grace late in the third meant the Warriors were down to only four active players. In a show of good sportsmanship, Piedmont Academy Head Coach Michael Wilson pulled a player to allow for a 4v4 game of basketball to end the third quarter before Grace recovered in time for the start of the fourth quarter.

This would have been LaGrange Academy’s second matchup with Piedmont Academy on the season, but they had to forfeit the matchup earlier this season due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the team.

The Warriors fall to 6-7 overall and 2-3 in the region. Their final regular season game is at St. George’s on Feb. 3.