LaFayette boys, Gordon Lee girls earn season sweeps of county rivals
Two decisive runs, one in the third quarter and one in the fourth quarter, were enough to propel the LaFayette Ramblers to a 55-41 non-region win over county rival Gordon Lee in Chickamauga on Saturday.
The Ramblers (142 overall) got out to a 12-5 lead in the first quarter. But the Trojans (5-12) would counter with seven unanswered points to tie the game and they would trail by just two, 17-15, after the first eight minutes.
However, Gordon Lee would not get any closer the rest of the night.
LaFayette limited the hosts to just two points in the first 4:30 of the second period and the Ramblers would take a 27-21 lead into the locker room.
Gordon Lee would continue to hang around and chopped the gap down to six, 32-26, on a Kannen Derryberry 3-pointer near the midway point of the third quarter. But LaFayette would reel off a 12-0 run, and although the Trojans would score the final five points of the quarter, the Ramblers would still take a double-digit lead in the final period.
Some unselfish passing by LaFayette would lead to backto-back lay-ups by Andrew Pendergrass that capped a 9-2 run and gave the Ramblers their biggest lead of the game, 53-33, with 2:37 to play.
The Trojans would score eight straight points, pulling back to within 12 with a minute to go, but it would be too little too late for the home team.
Pendergrass had 15 points, collected four rebounds and deflected six Gordon Lee shots. Alex Kelehear had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Tyrese Hunter had 10 points and four boards. Jon Morgan grabbed 10 rebounds and Dee Southern pulled down seven.
Kobie Cowan led the Trojans with 14 points, followed by Kannen Derryberry with 13 and Jack Solmon and Jacob Dyer with seven each.
Gordon Lee girls 50, LaFayette 27
In the opener, the Lady Ramblers led 10-8 after the first stanza, but the Lady Trojans would score 21 points in the second to forge a 29-16 lead at the break.
LaFayette would continue to stay within striking distance through the third quarter, but a 10-4 run, keyed by four straight points off the bench by Hannah Willerson, eventually boosted the lead to 20 and the Navyand-White would pull away to move to 8-9 on the season.
Faith Alexander had 15 points to pace Gordon Lee. Abby Dalton finished with nine and Gracie O’Neal collected eight.
Megan Wilson and Jada Allmon had six points each in the loss, while Emily Redden had five as the Lady Ramblers fell to 1-16 overall.
Northwest boys 55, LaFayette 54
Chase Burton hit what would turn out to be the gamewinning lay-up in the final seconds and the Northwest Bruins
pulled out a one-point win at LaFayette on Friday night, dropping the Ramblers out of first place in the Region 6-AAAA standings.
The win also salvaged a regular season split for the Bruins, who lost a 48-42 decision at home to the Ramblers earlier this season.
LaFayette fell to 5-2 in region play with the loss. The Ramblers’ two defeats this year have come by a grand total of three points.
Kelehear had 17 points for the Ramblers, followed by Hunter with
Northwest girls 53, LaFayette 19
In the girls’ game, the Lady Bruins stayed unbeaten in region play, while they dropped LaFayette to 0-7 in the region standings.
Megan Wilson hit two 3-pointers and finished with 10 points, while S.J. Oxford was the next highest scorer for the Lady Ramblers with three.
Gordon Lee boys 66, Excel Christian 24
The Trojans got their first subregion win of the year on the road this past Friday night, coasting to a rout in Cartersville.
The Navy-and-White (1-5 subregion) led 26-9 after one quarter and 38-17 at halftime en route to the victory. A total of 12 different players scored for Gordon Lee, led by Derryberry with 11 points. Justin Wooden added nine, while Wiley Hemming and Corey Mullens picked up eight each.
Excel Christian girls 45, Gordon Lee 43
The Lady Trojans fell to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in subregion play after a disappointing road loss.
Gordon Lee led 16-5 after the first quarter, but scored just 11 points combined over the next two periods to fall behind 33-27 going into the fourth.
The Lady Trojans fought back, but couldn’t make up the deficit as they dropped the contest.
O’Neal paced Gordon Lee with 11 points, followed by Molly Thomison with nine and Dalton with seven.
Darlington boys 68, Gordon Lee 48
The Gordon Lee boys fell behind big in the first half, made a huge comeback in the third quarter to slice the gap down to three points , but saw the Tigers come up big in the fourth to claim a subregion victory in Rome last Tuesday.
The Tigers, ranked
10th in the latest Class A Private School state poll, jumped out to a big 25-7 lead after the opening quarter and maintained the 18-point margin - 41-23 - at halftime.
But Gordon Lee connected on five of their 10 3-pointers in the third quarter, outscoring Darlington 23-8, to pull within three points - 49-46 - headed into the fourth.
However, the final period would be a nightmare for the Trojans. The Tigers not only scored 19 points, but held Gordon Lee to just a single pair of free throws in the final eight minutes.
Derryberry had four threes and finished with a game-high 20 points. Hayden Murphy drained five from behind the arc and had 19 points.
Darlington girls 52, Gordon Lee 36
In the opener, the Lady Trojans were also done in by a big first-half by the Lady Tigers as they fell behind 17-8 after the first quarter and 34-12 at intermission.
Eight different players scored for Gordon Lee, but none finished in double figures. Gracey Kruse led the way with seven, followed by Katelyn Bickett with six. Dalton and O’Neal had five each.