LFO teams remain unbeaten
A standing-room-only crowd and a raucous atmosphere awaited both Ringgold and LFO as the two rivals met in Fort Oglethorpe for a pair of Region 6-AAA games on Friday night and fans got their money’s worth all night, especially in the nightcap, which went to overtime.
LFO BOYS 72, RINGGOLD 68
LFO lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and trailed by two in the closing seconds. However, Brent Bowman put in a tough left-handed lay-up with 10 seconds remaining to tie the game and Jamichael Davis was able to knock the ball away from Ringgold on the Tigers’ ensuing possession to send the game to overtime.
Bowman and Davis each hit two free throws early in overtime and Bowman was able to rattle in a turnaround 12-footer in the lane to boost the LFO lead to three with just under a minute to play. Following a missed 3-pointer by Ringgold, Davis drew a foul with 43 seconds left and made both shots to push the Warriors’ advantage to five.
Then, just seven seconds later, junior Jackson Flanagan came up with arguably the defensive play of the game, stealing the ball in the backcourt before driving in for a lay-up.
The Tigers answered with a three on their ensuing possession, but two final free throws by Davis with less than four seconds to play sealed the victory.
Bowman had a game-high 23 points for the Warriors, while Davis finished with 20. Cameron Lay scored nine points. Keenan Walker and Amari Burnett had six points each, followed by Flanagan with four. Jayden Dover and Jamillion Womble each dropped in two.
LFO 52 BOYS, NORTH MURRAY 36
Saturday’s nightcap saw the Warriors gut out another region win after Friday’s physical and emotional battle.
LFO (7-0, 3-0) led by just four points, 23-19, at the break, but came out firing in the third quarter. Davis scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the period as the Warriors outscored the Mountaineers, 21-9, to take control of the contest for good.
Bowman scored nine in the win, followed by Lay with seven and Burnett with six. The rest of the scoring featured four by Walker, two each from Flanagan, Womble and Alex Slatton, and one from Tristan Beddington.
LFO GIRLS 44, RINGGOLD 22
In Friday’s opener, the undefeated and No. 10-ranked Lady Warriors used a suffocating defense to knock the Lady Tigers from the ranks of the unbeaten. The
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hosts enjoyed a narrow 10-8 lead after the first quarter and extended their advantage to 20-10 at halftime before further clamping down on the defensive end in the second half.
Freshman Christen Collins had three 3-pointers and a team and game-high 11 points for the Lady Warriors. Angel Simmons finished with nine points. Zoey GrayMartin scored eight points off the bench, all in the second half, while Christina Collins added seven.
LFO GIRLS 61, NORTH MURRAY 26
After a tremendous defensive effort on Friday, the Lady Warriors could have been primed for a let-down less than 24 hours later. However, that turned out to be just wishful thinking for North Murray.
The Red-and-White once again played smothering defense and moved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in Region 6-AAA play by trouncing the Lady Mountaineers in Chatsworth.
Christen Collins led the way with 24 points, adding six rebounds, five steals and two assists. Christina Collins had a dozen points, five boards, four assists and three steals, and Angel Simmons went for seven points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds.
Princess Simmons (seven steals) and Star Alexander (three steals) scored six points apiece. Ziara Thompson added four points and Zoey Gray-Martin had one point and four boards. Kaile Richiez also scored one point and had three rebounds, while Skye Alexander pulled down three boards, collected one steal and blocked one shot.