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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Despite a monster night from Javon Brown, the LaGrange Grangers came up just short in their quest to reach the Region 2-AAAA championship game.

Facing second-seeded Hardaway on Friday night, Brown went off for 30 points, but LaGrange lost 56-47 at home.

LaGrange had the lead with four minutes to go, but Hardaway closed the game on a 10-0 run.

LaGrange’s chances were hurt when junior point guard Kobe Jones, who had 22 points overall and 14 fourth-quarter points in Thursday’s tournament win over Troup, left the game in the fourth quarter with an injured ankle.

“The kids battled hard like they do every night,” said LaGrange head coach Mark Veal. “We thought we had a chance tonight, and we did have a chance.”

LaGrange, the tournament’s number seed, will host Carver at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the third-place game.

LaGrange will be on the road next week for the opening round of the Class AAAA state tournament.

In Friday’s game, the Grangers started quickly and had a 10-4 lead when Brown scored on a break-away dunk, and they were up 13-11 at the close of the first quarter.

The Grangers were behind 18-17 with less than four minutes to play in the second quarter when they went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-18 lead at the halftime break.

The Grangers led by as many as eight points in the third quarter, and they were ahead 41-38 heading to the final quarter.

It remained tight in the fourth quarter, and a Brown basket gave the Grangers a 47-46 lead with a little more than four minutes to play.

The Hawks, with Jones unable to go, took control from there and ended up winning by nine.

LaGrange’s opponent in Saturday’s game will be a Carver team that lost to Spencer 72-60 in a semifinal showdown at Troup High on Friday.

Carver beat LaGrange 69-69 in double-overtime on Feb. 10 in a regular-season game.