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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It’s time to turn the page.

The LaGrange Grangers closed the regular season with a 66-49 home loss to the Hardaway Hawks on Friday night.

The Grangers (10-10 overall) finished with a 3-5 Region 2-AAAA record, and they’ll participate in the region tournament next week.

“Now, records don’t matter,” said LaGrange head coach Mark Veal. “You go play, and if you win you keep going, and if you lose, that’s it. Everybody’s in the same boat. You can be 0-8 in the region and win the region title. You don’t know what can happen.”

The Grangers have been in most of their games, and three of their region losses were decided in overtime.

In Friday’s game, the Grangers had a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter before the Hawks came storming back.

The Hawks had a 39-38 lead through three quarters, and they scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to take a 49-38 lead.

The Grangers got within five on a 3-pointer by Malik Hall with 4:40 to play, but the Hawks went on a 10-0 run to put it away.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Veal said. “They play hard. We may not make shots and miss rebounds, but we play hard, and we’re excited for next week.”

Malik Hall made three 3-pointers and led the Grangers with 11 points, and Javon Brown added 10 points.

Tristan Smith contributed eight points, and Kobe Jones scored six points, all in the second half.

In the girls’ game, Hardaway started quickly and beat LaGrange 56-29.

The Lady Grangers finished with a 3-5 region record, and they’ll participate in the region tournament next week.

The Lady Grangers trailed 24-2 in Friday’s game, but they hung tough, and when Corriah Williams made a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, they were down 29-9.

LaGrange hung around and was within 22 late in the third quarter before Hardaway went on a 6-1 run to take a 46-19 lead heading into the final quarter.

Hardaway’s lead was at least 27 points throughout the fourth quarter.