Leopards Win 9th Straight to Stay Atop District Basketball Standings

The La Grange boys basketball team just keeps playing better and better.

The Leps won their ninth consecutive game and increased their district lead with a 66-58 win over visiting Manor New Tech Friday.

La Grange is now 18-8 overall and 5-0 in district.

Senior Nate Scott has led the charge for the Leps this season, and he did so again Friday, scoring a team-high 24 points.

“Nate is special with a capital ‘S,’ La Grange head coach Trent Collier said. “He’s such a competitor, never quits, finds a way to dig deep.”

But even Scott said he has been surprised by the Leps’ success so far this season – especially considering La Grange lost eight players from last year’s district title team.

“I really didn’t expect this, but I’ve started to believe more and more as we have gotten better and better,” Scott said.

But Collier said he’s not surprised by the success.

“I know a lot of people thought this was going to be a rebuilding year, but we have some really great depth,” Collier said. “We have guys on our JV who could be starting for other teams in our district. We have guys that can really do some things.”

They showed those skills Friday, holding a Manor New Tech team that has been averaging 75 points a game to just 58.

“We knew they had some guards that were going to give us problems and we knew their depth was going to be an issue,” Collier said. “But we knew we had an advantage in the paint and on the glass, so we wanted to do everything we could to take advantage of our size, our rebounding.

“Reece was huge tonight, he had 19 rebounds. Nate had 20.”

Clayton Cooper scored 10 for the Leps and Thai Scott scored seven.

“Manor New Tech was a very good team but we just had a very good plan thanks to coach,” Scott said.

The Leps put their winstreak on the line as they host a Australian traveling team Tuesday before returning to district action Friday at Smithville.

Jan. 12

La Grange boys 66 Manor NT 58

La Grange 16 16 17 17 – 66 Manor New T. 17 14 14 13 – 58 LG scoring: Clayton Cooper 10, Jhase Scott 5, Conner Brooks 2, Cordale Knapik 3, Thai Scott 7, Nate Scott 24, Devonte McKenzie 6, Oliver Gunn 3, Reece Nygren 6.

JV: La Grange 58, Manor NT 27

Leading scorer: Kleiber 15

Freshman: La Grange 41, Manor NT 33 Leading scorers: Johnson and Thompson 8 each

22-4A Boys Hoops La Grange 5-0 Caldwell 3-1 Manor NT 2-2 Taylor 2-2 Giddings 2-3 Austin Achieve 1-3 Smithville 0-4