LaFayette knocks off Heritage to move into second place
The last time the LaFayette Ramblers met the Heritage Generals on the basketball court, the Generals pulled out a 65-63 victory in LaFayette in a game that wasn’t decided until the final shot of the game.
Last Tuesday’s rematch would have significantly less drama.
The Ramblers exploded from the opening tip and raced past the Generals, 62-44, in Ringgold to tighten up the Region 6-AAAA standings even more.
LaFayette led 15-4 after the opening quarter and kept Heritage at arm’s length from there. The Generals cut the gap down to 25-19 at the break, but the Ramblers would hold the Generals to just seven points in the third quarter and outscored their hosts, 36-22, in the second half.
Alex Kelehear finished with a gamehigh 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Tyrese Hunter dropped in 15 points and had 10 rebounds to complete the double-double, while Jon Morgan had 10 points and eight boards.
Ridgeland boys 59, LaFayette 47
Three nights later, back at home, the Ramblers suffered through a cold-shooting night all the way around and saw their region title hopes take a hit with a loss to their Walker County neighbors.
LaFayette, who never led in the game, fell behind 20-5 early in
the second quarter, but managed to end the half on a 17-9 run, slicing the gap to 29-22 at the break.
The Ramblers would work it down to a fourpoint game twice in the third quarter. However, LaFayette had no defensive answer for Ridgeland’s Markeion Jones, who had 26 points with six 3-pointers and the Panthers would pull away in the fourth.
Kelehear led the Ramblers with 14 hardearned points, while Hunter and Andrew Pendergrass had eight points each.
LaFayette boys 80, Morris Innovative 17
Several junior varsity Ramblers got a call up to the big club in a non-region game at Dalton on Saturday.
Stone Graham had 15 points to pace LaFayette (16-3 overall). Hunter Woodward added 13 points and Rylan Russell finished with 11.
The Ramblers (6-3 in 6-AAAA) entered this week trailing Northwest Whitfield (8-1) by two full games, although they still had a halfgame lead over Heritage (5-3) for the No. 2 seed.
LaFayette will play at Gilmer on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. before they host Southeast Whitfield at 8:30 on Friday. Saturday will see the final game of the regular season as the Ramblers head to Pickens for a 4:30 start.
The Region 6-AAAA tournament will be held at Southeast Whitfield High School, starting on Feb. 6. The top four teams will advance to the Class AAAA state tournament, which begins on Feb. 17.