Nygren’s Late Free-Throws Clinch One Point District Hoops Win for Leps

The La Grange Leopards squeaked out a win against Caldwell Tuesday in a 52-51 match that came down to the last seconds.

The Leps (15-8 overall and now 2-0 in district) struggled to find their rhythm in their first game back from the New Year’s break. Caldwell went 0-12 last year in district, but they are a much improved team under new head coach Rene Cantu.

“They have a new coaching staff and we are really impressed with them,” said Leopard head coach Trent Collier. “I think our guys went into the game thinking they were going to be that 0-12 Caldwell team. We told them, ‘If that’s what you expect, you’re going to be in for a dogfight.’” The Hornets trailed La Grange by just two points at halftime, 24-22, and then took the lead after the half.

“Some things didn’t go our way,” Collier said. “Nate (Scott) isn’t going to miss that many layups for the rest of the year combined. We’re not going to commit those unforced turnovers. Things didn’t trend our way.”

La Grange trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter.

“There were a few times when we started to lose our composure, and one of the things we preach is composure,” Collier said. “I could have used some timeouts to force that on them. But you’re trying to get a team to learn to do that themselves in the heat of battle.”

The Leps battled back and stepped up their defense, crashing the boards and bringing down some key rebounds to get the ball back. The Leps were down 50-51 with 7.5 seconds left when Caldwell fouled Reece Nygren. Nygren went to the line and sank both of his free throws, putting the Leps up 52-51. La Grange pressed Caldwell on the inbound and time expired “We competed and held on to the end,” Collier said. “One of our sayings is ‘Drag them into the deep water.’ Well, we drug them into the deep water and survived it better than they did at the very end.”

Jan. 2

La Grange boys 52 Caldwell 51

La Grange 13 11 10 18 – 52 Caldwell 13 9 18 11 – 51 La Grange scoring: Clayton Cooper 6, Jhase Scott 2, Conner Brooks 3, Jeremiah Dillard 6, Thai Scott 4, Nathan Scott 11, Oliver Gunn 4, Reece Nygren 16.