Middle School Basketball: Ramblers stay unbeaten in conference action
The LaFayette Ramblers entered Monday sporting a 6-1 overall record and a 5-0 mark in NGAC after two road wins last week.
LaFayette opened with a 45-29 win at defending NGAC champion Gordon Lee on Tuesday. It was another full team effort for the Orange-andBlack, who took control in the first quarter by outscoring the Trojans, 20-5.
Jaylon Ramsey paced the team with 10 points, adding three steals, a block and an assist. Junior Barber dropped in eight points and dished out two assists, while Kendall Culbreth had seven points and three rebounds.
Grant Langford finished with six points and three boards. Aidan Hadaway had five points, four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. Cade Fisher finished with three points, four boards and a blocked shot. Chase Landon added three points and two rebounds. Jordan Kennerly chipped in with two points and four boards, while Gray Payton rounded out the scoring with one point.
Kobe Weaver, Chase Dillinger and Skylar Cepeda also had a hand in the victory.
Nate Dunfee had 13 points for Gordon Lee. Brodie Genter had five points, while Kade Cowan and Garren Ramey finished with three points apiece. Curtis Wells and Carter Platt dropped in two points each and Conner Whitman had one.
Then on Thursday, the Ramblers tamed the Ringgold Tigers, 44-30, behind 17 points from Ramsey and 12 from Barber. Fisher added 11 in the victory, while Weaver chipped in with four.
Heritage boys keep pace in NGAC
The Generals are now 5-1 following wins over Ringgold and Trion last week.
Against the Tigers, Heritage jumped out to a 9-1 advantage in the first quarter, only to see their Catoosa County rivals roar back to forge a brief lead. Heritage would regain the advantage at halftime, 20-17, and extended the gap to 32-27 by the end of the third quarter.
Heritage would take control from their, outscoring the Tigers in the final seven minutes, 13-4, to pull away for the victory.
Marcus Fortson had 14 points for the winners, followed by Kaden Swope with 12, Ryan Heet with seven and Cecil Bussey with five. Jacob Lozano added three points, while Bryce Travillian and Collin Swearingin each dropped in two.
Individual statistics for the Tigers were not provided as of press time.
On Thursday, the Generals got a gameopening 3-pointer by Heet, followed by a steal and a bucket from Swope and the Navyand-Red never looked back. They opened up a 21-6 lead after one quarter and a 40-17 advantage at halftime before coasting to the 62-43 victory.
Swope paced Heritage with 16 points, adding three assists and a pair of steals. Fortson had a dozen points and three steals, while Heet finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Also chipping in was Travillian (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Swearingin (5 points). Jacob Lozano and Marcus Hagler each had two points and multiple rebounds.
Results of the Heritage-Trion girls’ game were not provided
as of press time.
Ringgold girls stay hot, improve to 6-1
The Lady Tigers are also 6-1 overall and 5-0 in league play following action last week. Ringgold opened the week with a narrow victory at rival Heritage before beating LaFayette to close it out.
Against the Lady Generals, Ringgold led 18-13 in the third quarter only to lose the lead on a 6-0 by the Lady Generals. The score would be tied at 22 with three minutes to play in the game when the Lady Tigers made one final push. The ensuing 5-0 spurt gave the Blue-and-White a 27-22 lead with less than 60 seconds to play.
Sarah Matherly scored her only three points of the game for the Lady Generals on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds to go, cutting Ringgold’s lead down to two. However, Bailey Pitts was fouled and made one of two free throws with 8.2 seconds left to push the margin back to three and a final 3-point attempt by Heritage would miss its mark at the buzzer.
Taylor Layne had a game-high eight points for Ringgold. Pitts picked up seven points, all in the second half, while Sydney Cantrell added four in the victory.
Katie Thompson had seven points for Heritage. Elli Jost had all five of her points in the first quarter, while Gracie Murray and Riley Kokinda added four points each in the loss.
Thursday’s opener saw the Lady Tigers scored a 43-29 win over the Lady Ramblers as Addi Broome led a balanced scoring attack with 10 points.
Layne had eight points. Pitts finished with six, while Hannah Scott and Emily Love had five points each. Cantrell and Drew Burke had four points each, while Ashlyn Branson added one.
Heather Tucker led the way for LaFayette and led all scorers with 19 points. Hailey Fisher and Abby Sansing finished with five each for the Lady Ramblers.