LFO squads take on county rivals
Another thriller in a long history of thrilling games between the LFO Warriors and the Ringgold Tigers took place in Fort Oglethorpe last Tuesday night and ended with the hosts rallying late for a 76-71 victory.
LFO held a nine-point lead after the first quarter, but lost the lead in the second quarter and trailed by five with just under four minutes left in the game when they began a decisive run.
The run began with 3-pointers by Brent Bowman and Jayden Dover. Bowman also hit two more baskets, including an 18-foot turnaround jumper that came after a big steal by Amari Burnett with 1:31 to play. Burnett later had a big defensive rebound that led to a fastbreak lay-up by Bowman with 12 seconds left to seal the win.
Bowman finished with 34 points, including eight 3-pointers, one off his program record. Dover added 15 points, followed by Burnett with 13, Jared Mitchell with 10 and Bryce Brock with four.
LFO GIRLS 72, RINGGOLD 39
The girls’ contest had no such drama as the fifth-ranked Lady Warriors bolted out to a 31-6 lead after the first quarter and outscored the Lady Tigers 21-5 in the third to pull away for the victory.
LFO hit 10 threes as a team. Christen Collins and Angel Simmons accounted for four each. Collins finished with 25 points and Simmons had 17, while Christina Collins helped out with 14 on the night.
Mylee Howard and Presley Piatt both scored four points, while Christina Gass, Heidi
Johnson, Piper Brown and Zoey Gray-Martin scored two each.
LFO GIRLS 65, HERITAGE 30
The Lady Warriors reached the 10-win mark and maintained their perfect record heading into the Christmas break with another rivalry win on Friday, this time in Boynton.
LFO (10-0) jumped out to a 36-16 lead at halftime on its way to the win. The Lady Warriors’ high-scoring trio of Christina Collins,
Simmons and Christen Collins all finished in double figures with 19, 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Kaile Richiez added six points. Ziara Thompson and Gray-Martin scored four each. Howard and Johnson each finished with two, while Mercedes Thompson chipped in with one.
HERITAGE BOYS 61, LFO 53
The second game on Friday saw the Warriors outscored their hosts 37-31 in the second half, but it was
not enough to overcome what was a 14-point halftime deficit.
LFO (6-4) got 17 from Burnett and 14 apiece from Bowman and Dover. The rest of the scoring included five from Mitchell and three from Brock.
Both LFO teams will play in the Best of Preps Tournament at Chattanooga State next week. The Lady Warriors will open at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28 against Meigs County, while the Warriors will take on McCallie at 7 p.m. that same night.