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.
A couple more seniors got into the action late. Hunter Woodard would score on a driving lay-up and Kason Ledford would bring the bench and the home crowd to its feet as he swished a 3-pointer in the final minutes.
Kelehear finished with 29 points, including seven 3-pointers. Dee Southern had 14 points. Andrew Pendergrass added 10 and DeCameron Porter chipped in with seven. Tyrese Marsh had five points, followed by Russell and Ledford with three each. Woodard, Junior Barber, Vyshonn Daniel and Jaylon Ramsey all had two points apiece.
Harrison had four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for Ridgeland (3-20, 1-11). Fred Norman had 14 points and joined the 1,000-point club for his standout career. Ethan Moyer added six points on a pair of 3-pointers, while Khris Walker finished with five points.
Four points from A’zavier Blackwell, three from Cedric Shropshire and two from Jordan Blackwell rounded out the scoring for the Panthers.
Seventh-seeded Ridgeland was scheduled to open the region tournament at Southeast Whitfield with a 7:30 p.m. game on Tuesday versus second-seeded Gilmer. Meanwhile LaFayette, the tournament’s top seed, has a bye to the semifinals. They will play Thursday at 8:30 p.m. against the winner of the game between fourthseeded Southeast and fifth-seeded Northwest.
LaFayette girls 77, Ridgeland 51
The Lady Ramblers (12-12, 4-8) will be the No. 5 seed in the region tournament after putting up their highest offensive output of the season in a win over their county neighbors.
Consistency was the name of the game for LaFayette on Friday. The Lady Ramblers scored 19 points in the first quarter and 18 in the second as they led 37-19 at halftime. They added 19 more points in the third quarter to extend their lead to 23 points going in the fourth quarter and the Lady Ramblers would end the game with 21 points in the final eight minutes.
LaTyah Barber had 21 points to lead all scorers. Mykeria Johnson had 17 for LaFayette and Marquila Howell finished with 12. Megan Wilson and Alyssa Estus added six points apiece, followed by Shelby Eaton and Nicky Yancy with four each. Ashton Stalling had three, while Meredith Wight and Imani Cook both chipped in with two.
Fran King led Ridgeland with 17 points. D’Erika Ervin added 11 points and Asia Silmon had 10. Four points from Cordasia Watkins, three each from Hannah DeSalvo and Makenzie Howard, two from Kia Wade and one from Annabel Hill rounded out the stat sheet for the Lady Panthers (4-21, 0-12).
Lady Ramblers were slated to take on fourth-seeded Pickens Monday in their region tournament opener, while seventh-seeded Ridgeland was set to face second-seeded Heritage in their first tournament game on Monday. The winners of those two games qualify for the state tournament.
Due to newspaper deadlines, results of those games were not available as of press time.