The win was LaGrange’s second this season over the Lady Cavaliers, who saw themselves down by as many as 28 points in the second half.
“I saw a couple of good things,” LaGrange head coach Jan Jones said. “We still haven’t peaked yet, which is good so we’re still waiting on us to peak. I think defensively we played a little bit better this time than we did last time.”
Callaway coach Deyano Martin, meanwhile, talked to his team after the game, a chat that lasted through the first half and halftime of the boys’ game.
“I talked to them about having more heart,” Martin said. “We talked about giving effort, be ready to play, be game ready, don’t matter who you’re playing against. You always bring you’re A game.”
The Lady Cavaliers came into the game with a 2-1 record, and they were coming off a big win over Greenville, but Martin said “we didn’t come out to play well tonight for some reason.”
“We kind of left our game in the locker room,” he added. “We didn’t give up toward the end, we kept fighting, but I know we can play a lot better than that and that’s a little frustrating.”
Despite being down 16-8 after the first quarter, Callaway played the Lady Grangers fairly tight to start off.
The score was tied at 8-8 with 1:57 left in the opening stanza, but LaGrange managed to reel off eight points before the quarter ended.
LaGrange poured the coal on the fire starting in the second quarter and led 35-15 at the break.
Callaway’s ability to score in the paint was severely hampered by the play of Granger pivot player KaBrenna Smith, who played the role of lane police and shut down Callaway’s inside efforts until she was taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter after the game was already decided.
Jones gave kudos to Erica Daniel for her defensive efforts including some key steals she made, and Breanna Grant, who Jones’ said, “always plays well.”
Jones also complimented Smith’s game.
“She had some nice put backs and the way we got the fast break going we give her some layups under the goal, so that was nice,” Jones added.
Meanwhile, LaGrange brought a balanced scoring attack to the game with Steara Mitchell pouring in 15 points, including two 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Smith scored 12 points in just a little more than three quarters of work and Brittany Tatum had 10 points.
For Callaway, Tanisha Johnson had nine points and Monica Jackson seven.
Callaway will host Troup on Friday, and LaGrange will be off until Jan. 4 when it opens Region 5-AAAA play at home against Shaw.
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