Lafayette boys gearing up for another postseason run
The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors set an NBA record by going 73-9 in the regular season.
Although they don’t play an 82-game season schedule, the Lafayette Ramblers are going into this week’s Region 6-AAAA tournament one win away from equaling their own version of that mark.
Lafayette’s 79- 50 home victory over Walker County rival Ridgeland this past Friday night in the regular season finale moved the Ramblers to 23-1 overall and gave them an 11-1 mark in region play.
It was also Senior Night at Dan Priest Gymnasium and the Ramblers’ seniors are now a blistering 72- 9 in their last 81 games over four seasons.
Friday’s win followed a somewhat familiar script. Lafayette heated up on the offensive end in the second half and clamped down on the defensive end in the fourth quarter as they methodically pulled away from the Panthers.
Lafayette had a 10- point lead with 4:08 left to go before halftime, but a steal and subsequent lay-up by Jordan Blackwell would whittle the Ramblers’ lead down to 20-16 with just 2:35 left before intermission.
But coming out of a timeout, Alex Kelehear would drain a 3-pointer and the senior would add two more from behind the arc as his personal 9-0 run gave Lafayette a 29- 16 lead at the break.
Riley Harrison scored nine consecutive points of his own for the Panthers in the third quarter keep Ridgeland within striking distance, but another 3- pointer by Kelehear and one by Rylan Russell pushed the Ramblers’ lead back to 13 points at the 4:30 mark.
Then, coming out of a timeout, Kelehear buried another three and followed up with two nice drives to the basket and suddenly the Ramblers’ advantage was 20 with just under 2: 30 to play in the period. A 13- 4 run to open the fourth quarter would erase any hopes of a Panther comeback.