Big week for LaFayette boys capped with state berth Gordon Lee teams jockeying for region seeding
Last week was nothing short of an historic one for the LaFayette Ramblers basketball team.
The Ramblers posted three region wins, saw a 27-year-old school record fall, celebrated a milestone, clinched the top seed for the 6-AAAA tournament and punched their ticket to the state playoffs, all in a span of five days.
LaFayette boys 76, Gilmer 39
Last Tuesday, junior Alex Kelehear was acknowledged in front of the home crowd for his 1,000th career point, but it was senior Jon Morgan that stole the show.
Morgan broke the school’s singlegame scoring record with a 43-point outburst against the Bobcats, lifting his team to the victory.
Oddly enough, Morgan - one of LaFayette’s top 3-point gunners - did not have a single three in the game. He hit for 20 points in the opening quarter, two in the second, added 13 more in the third and eight in the fourth, while also finishing with 14 rebounds.
Morgan’s 43 points broke the record, previously set by Adrian Shropshire during the 1990-1991 season.
“I’m just so proud of Jon,” LaFayette head coach Hank Peppers said. “He works so hard day in and day out. He’s always willing to put in the extra time to improve his game and we are all so proud to see his hard work paying off.”
Dee Southern had 12 points and 10 rebounds for LaFayette, while Andrew Pendergrass and Alex Kelehear both chipped in with six points.
LaFayette boys 56, Southeast Whitfield 34
The Ramblers reached 20 wins for the second straight season after stifling the Raiders Friday night in Dalton.
Southeast took a narrow one-point lead after the first quarter, but were outscored 19-5 in the second quarter as LaFayette took control for good.
Fresh off his recordsetting night, Morgan went for 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Ramblers got their 10th region win without a loss. Southern had 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Kelehear finished with 10 points.
Saturday’s game back at Dan Priest Gymnasium turned out to be a much closer contest then their matchup just over a week ago. LaFayette led 35-29 at halftime, but hung on for the victory. The win moved the Ramblers to 21-1 overall and gave them a perfect 11-0 record in region play.
With just one game remaining on the schedule - at home against Heritage on Thursday - the Ramblers have clinched the top seed for next month’s 6-AAAA tournament at Southeast Whitfield. Along with that comes an automatic berth in the state semifinals, meaning LaFayette is guaranteed a spot in the Class 4A state tournament in mid-Feb.
Kelehear finished with two 3-pointers and went a perfect 11-for11 from the free-throw line, including 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter, to score a game-high 21 points. Tyrese Marsh added eight points in the win, while Morgan and Southern had six points apiece.
The Gordon Lee Lady Trojans traveled South to Rome last Tuesday night and returned home with a 46-36 subregion victory over Darlington.
The Lady Trojans got it done at the free throw line, connecting on 16of-19 attempts.
Faith Alexander was 7-of-8 from the line and had a game-high 20 points in the win. Gracie O’Neal was 5-of-6 at the line and scored 11, while Abby Dalton was 4-of-5 at the charity stripe and finished with seven points.
Six points from Sam Belue and two from Kaitlyn O’Toole rounded out the scoring.
Gordon Lee girls 48, North Cobb Christian 42
The Lady Trojans got a tough test in Marietta on Friday, but were able to pull out the subregion win.
O’Neal had 17 points in the win, followed by Alexander with 13 and Gracey Kruse with eight.
Bowdon girls 58, Gordon Lee 43
On Saturday, back in Chickamauga, Gordon Lee trailed 30-27 at the break, but never got any closer in the second half. They dropped to 10-9 overall with the loss and 5-4 in Region 6-A “A”.
Dalton led the way with 14 points, followed by Alexander and O’Neal with eight apiece.
Darlington boys 46, Gordon Lee 35
The Trojans recovered from a twopoint opening quarter to take a 14-13 lead in a low-scoring first half. They would maintain a one-point cushion, 26-25, headed into the fourth, but Darlington would outscore the Trojans over the final eight minutes, 19-9, to pull out the win.
Individual scoring had not been provided as of press time.
North Cobb Christian boys 76, Gordon Lee 55
Kannen Derryberry had a big night with 27 points, but it wasn’t enough to get the Trojans past the Eagles. Jacob Dyer had 12 points in the loss.
Gordon Lee boys 66, Bowdon 52
The Trojans needed a huge fourth quarter rally to beat the Red Devils during the teams’ first meeting earlier this season, but they would take care of business a little earlier this past Saturday.
Gordon Lee took a four-point halftime lead and blew it open in the third quarter by outscoring the Red Devils, 27-14.
With the victory, Gordon Lee moved to 10-9 overall and 2-7 in subregion play.
A balanced scoring attack was the key. Zander Smith and Hayden Murphy each went for 15 points with Murphy draining four 3-pointers in the process. Wiley Heming had 12 points, including a dunk. Dyer added 10 points and Derryberry finished with nine.