Ramblers edge Tigers for Whitwell tourney title
After falling three points shy of a tournament championship in Alabama before Christmas, the LaFayette Ramblers made up for it just prior to New Year’s Day.
LaFayette took down a pair of Tennessee teams before hanging on for a nail-biting win over Georgia neighbor Ringgold in the finals of the Whitwell Christmas Tournament.
On Thursday, a 23-5 advantage after the first quarter of play gave the Ramblers plenty of breathing room as they went on to the rout.
Jon Morgan had 25 points in the win. Alex Kelehear finished with 15, while Andrew Pendergrass added nine.
On Friday, the Ramblers hit 13 threes as a team and connected on 10-of-14 free throw attempts as they pulled away from the Indians in a semifinal matchup.
Up 17-4 early, Sequatchie battled back to cut their deficit to 32-30 with just less than five minutes left in the half. But the Ramblers got the momentum back with another 17-4 run to end the half and stretched out their lead in the second half.
Kelehear had 24 points to lead all scorers. Dee Southern had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Pendergrass had 15 points and hit four 3-pointers. Morgan finished with 14 points and accounted for LaFayette’s other three long range shots.
LaFayette 54, Ringgold 53
The Ramblers sunk nine 3-pointers, accounting for half of their points, in a thrilling onepoint win over the Tigers in Saturday’s championship game.
Kelehear hit 7-of-8 at the free throw line and had a game-high 21 points for LaFayette (131). Pendergrass finished with 10 points, followed by Morgan with eight, Southern with six, Tyrese Marsh with five and Stone Graham with four.
The Ramblers will get back to the floor next Saturday at Coahulla Creek in a non-region game.
Kelehear reaches scoring milestone
The junior guard went over 1,000 points for his career after hitting a pair of late free throws against Sequatchie County.
The Ramblers called a timeout after his first free throw to acknowledge the achievement and were able to secure the game ball from tournament organizers. Kelehear got a standing ovation from his teammates as he walked towards the bench.
“I didn’t even know about it until they told me as I was about to hit the free throws,” Kelehear said with a laugh. “I was just going to try to dribble out the clock and suddenly they’re telling me to shoot and I didn’t know why. Once I found out, I just tried to stay calm at the foul line, although my knees were knocking
a little bit. But after I hit that first one, I was fine.”
“Alex puts in so much hard work,” said head coach Hank Peppers. “He never takes a day off in practice or in the offseason. He’s earned everything he’s gotten and I’m very proud of him. He’s a great player and a great teammate and it couldn’t have happened to a better kid.”