Lafayette girls hold off LFO in 6-AAA shootout
The Lafayette Lady Ramblers and the LFO Lady Warriors both enjoyed their largest offensive outputs of the season this past Friday night, but it was the visiting team getting the better end of a 79-62 result in Fort Oglethorpe.
Lafayette led by just seven points at the end of the first quarter, but did most of its damage in the second as they outscored LFO, 23-9, to take a 46-25 lead into halftime.
The Lady Warriors (0-16, 0-13) refused to go quietly and begin chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter, eventually getting to within 15 points of the lead. However, the Lady Ramblers would pick up the pace again in the fourth to record the Region 6-AAA road victory.
Latyah Barber had a big night with 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Mykeria Johnson had 20 points and seven steals, while Michaela Baker recorded her first high school doubledouble with 13 points and 10 boards.
Fanny Barber had sev
en points and a pair of assists. Heather Tucker had
six points, four steals and three rebounds and Savanna Hall added four points.
Jenna Baker finished with three points. Haynie Gilstrap scored two points, while Haven Yancy had two points to go with three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Ziara Thompson led all scorers with 27 points for LFO. Madison Stookey had a nice game with 16 points and Zoey Gray-martin added 10, while three each from Kalie Richiez, Christina Gass and Heidi Johnson rounded out the night.
The boys’ game was not played and a make-up date had not been announced as of press time.
Coahulla Creek girls 62, Lafayette 49
The Lady Ramblers dropped last Tuesday night’s opener to the Lady Colts, who entered the game second in the region standings.
Latyah Barber had a 25-point, 12-rebound double-double to go with eight steals, three assists and a block. Michaela Baker had eight points, four rebounds and a steal. Johnson added five points, one board and one steal, while Tucker also had five points to go with four boards and two steals.
Hall finished with two points and four rebounds. Gilstrap added two points and grabbed two boards and Jenna Baker had two points, one rebound, one steal and one assist.
Lafayette boys 63, Coahulla Creek 43
Decameron Porter erupted for 31 points and the No. 10-ranked Ramblers moved to 14-1 overall and 11-1 in Region 6-AAA.
Aidan Hadaway’s 16 points and Junior Barber’s 10 gave Lafayette three players in double figures. Jaylon Ramsey’s four points and Jaden Morris’ two rounded out the scoring.
Ringgold girls 61, Lafayette 31
Johnson was the only player in double figures for Lafayette ( 9- 8, 6- 8) in Saturday’s loss at Ringgold as she finished with a dozen points. Tucker added six, while the scoring was rounded out by five from Latyah Barber, four from Michaela Baker, two from Sara Pendley and one each by Hall and Yancy.
The game was a make-up of a postponed date earlier in the year.
Adairsville girls 46, LFO 37
The Lady Warriors trailed 23-22 at intermission, but were not able to get past the Lady Tigers last Tuesday. Stookey had 12 for LFO and Thompson added 10. Five from Gracie Cochran, three by Piper Piatt, two each by Richiez, Gass and Gray-martin, and one from Presley Piatt capped the scoring.
North Murray girls 51, LFO 22
The Lady Mountaineers led 26-13 at halftime and picked up a make-up victory in Fort Oglethorpe on Thursday night.
Stookey led the Lady Warriors with six points. Gray-martin and Gass had four points apiece, while the scoring was rounded out with two points each from Thompson, Catherine Seiffert and Jakia Bentley. Gray-martin also collected eight boards and blocked two shots.
The LFO boys’ did not play last week.
The 2021 GHSA State Traditional Tournament are scheduled for this week at the Macon Coliseum and the CatoosaWalker County area will once again be well-represented.
Area tournaments were wrestled this past Saturday and, in a change from previous seasons, the top three wrestlers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament as there will be no state sectionals this year.
Class A
Gordon Lee will be taking 11 wrestlers to Macon with one alternate (fourth-place) following the Area 7-A tournament at Darlington.
Montgomery Kephart will head to the finals as area champion at 170 pounds. Kephart got a bye in his first-round match before winning by decision in finals.
Wil Tumblin (113) and Tomy Duke (132) both placed second, while third-place finishers included Zane Murdock (126), Zach Watson (145), Nathaniel Hunley (152), Timy Duke (182), Justin Cruise (195), Mason Leming (220) and Gabe Lowe (285). Penn Askew will be an alternate at 138.
Also headed to state for Gordon Lee is Makayden Martin, who will compete in the girls’ 102-pound class.
Trion won the team title with 215 points, followed by
Armuchee (106), Gordon Lee (102), Darlington (78) and North Cobb Christian (48).
Class AAA
At the 6-AAA tournament at Sonoraville, the host Phoenix took the top spot with 196 points. Coahulla Creek (134) was second, followed closely behind by Lafayette (125), Ringgold (102) and LFO (32).
The Ramblers will take nine wrestlers to Macon, led by three area champions.
Jacob Hamilton (106) had a major decision and a regular decision in winning his weight class. Levi Ledford (138) had a pair of pins to claim the top spot, while Karson Ledford
(152) got a first-round bye before a pin in the finals.
Placing second was Avery Sullivan (132), Carson Lanier (145), Hunter Deal (160) and David Patterson (285), while Braxton Beavers (120) and Caleb Zwiger (170) both took third.
Gage Keener (113) and Hudson Moss (120) were Ringgold’s two champions. Keener had a pin and a major decision, while Moss used a bye and a pin to take the weight class.
Levi Lowery (182), Kaiser Cross (195) and Brentlee Raby (220) were all runnersup, while third place went to Zane Rohrer (106) and Nolan Rohrer (126). Eric Jeffery (132) and Brayden Raby (138) will
be state alternates after placing fourth.
And for the Warriors, Nick Kapherr (145), Tyler Frady (220) and Taylor Frady (285) are headed to state after thirdplace showings. Ethan Kinsey (152) was fourth and will be on stand-by as an alternate.
Class AAAA
As for 7-AAAA, Heritage will send six Generals to state, including a pair of area champions, after five state qualifiers and only one area champ a year ago.
Cayman Hughey (132) got a major decision and a quick pin to reach the finals where he scored a decision to earn his
title. Meanwhile, Zach Brown (220) got a first-round bye and a pin before a minor decision won him an area championship.
Also headed to Macon will be second-place finishers Tate Thomas (106) and Garrett Pennington (145), while Evan Wingrove (138) and Skylar Grant (152) qualified with thirdplace showings. Cooper Ables (170) placed fourth and will be an alternate.
“I’m proud of our two seniors’ (Brown and Pennington) strong finishes and leading the team,” head coach Mike Craft said. “It’s a great finish for them and we are looking forward to seeing them on the medal stand at state.
“I’m also excited that sophomores Cayman Hughey and Tate Thomas led our younger wrestlers with an (area) championship and another (area) runner-up finish. The future looks bright with freshmen Evan Wingrove and Skylar Grant (both) finishing third and freshman Cooper Ables in fourth.
“Although we didn’t achieve all our goals for the event, we are headed in the right direction as we improved over last year. Also, losing returning state medalist Drew Dietz and Victor Johnson to injuries really hurt us. We look forward to getting them back in the lineup next year.”
As for Ridgeland, the Panthers had a pair of area champions.
Aiden Raymer (152) used a bye and two pins to claim the top of the podium, while Tommy Lamb (285) bulldozed his way to a title with three pins, all in the first period, to stay unbeaten (13-0) on the year.
The Panthers will have state alternates in Hunter Barber (106), Evan Doyal (126) and Caleb Sain (195).
Central-carrollton won the team title with 162 points, edging out 7-AAAA duals champion Northwest (154). Pickens (140.5) was third, followed by Southeast (133), Heritage (114.5), Ridgeland (87) and Cedartown (63).
The state tournament began on Tuesday morning and will run through midday on Saturday.