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The LaGrange boys basketball team had to scrap its way to a fourth straight win on Saturday, beating Whitewater 54-47 on the second night of a back-to-back. 

The teams came into the game with the exact same record (9-5) and were separated by just half a game in the region standings. 

The first quarter belonged to the Grangers as the home team grabbed a 18-14 lead after the opening eight minutes. Both offenses struggled in the second quarter with LaGrange outscoring the Wildcats 8-3 in the period to expand its lead. 

The second half was more of the same as the scrappy Wildcats did not go away. Whitewater outscored LaGrange in the third quarter to cut their deficit to just six points. 

The Wildcats hung in the game until the final buzzer. Whitewater had a chance to cut the LaGrange lead down to just two points with 55 seconds left, but Torian Reeves made an athletic block to keep the ball from going in.

After Bj Wortham missed a free throw, the Wildcats would cut the LaGrange lead to one-score with a 3-pointer from the corner with 40 seconds remaining in the game. Brennan Connell would proceed to hit two clutch free throws to put the Grangers back up by two scores and all but ice the game. 

Wortham led LaGrange in scoring with 13 points while Connell finished 11 points. Reeves, Jalen Fryer and Javon Nelson all finished with eight points as the scoring was spread around on the night for the home team. 

LaGrange improved to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in region play. The Grangers have now won four games in a row and will look to keep the winning streak going next Tuesday against Trinity Christian. The Lions sit last in the Region 2-3A standings with a region record of 0-7.