By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The LaGrange Grangers fought back from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to make a game of it, only to fall to home-standing Whitewater 58-55 on Friday night.

Trailing 41-33 through three quarters, LaGrange got as close as two points in the final period.

“They did some good things,” LaGrange head coach Mark Veal said. “There are still some things we keep doing that we need to get better at, but they made a nice run at the end.”

Vondez Taylor led LaGrange with 12 points, and Jalen Parker and Earley Sanders added eight points apiece.

The Grangers were down 13-11 after the opening quarter, and they trailed 24-21 at the half and 41-33 heading to the final period.

The Grangers went off for 22 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t quite enough.

LaGrange will host South Paulding on Tuesday.

In the girls’ game, missed free throws were the story of the night for LaGrange in the 55-38 loss.

The Lady Grangers did a nice job of getting to the line, but they were only 5-of-24 on their free-throw attempts.

Kamelah Kelley and Zaria Russell led LaGrange with eight points apiece, and Blair Herrod made two 3-pointers and scored seven points.

The first half was a tough one for the Lady Grangers, who scored four points in each of the first two quarters to trail 27-8 at the break.

LaGrange, which fell to 5-3, picked up the pace offensively in the second half with 30 points, but the deficit was too great.