Giddings Edges La Grange by Two With Late Basket
Giddings grabbed an important District 20-4A victory Tuesday in La Grange as Ryan Melcher made a go-ahead layup with seven seconds left in the game to break a tie and vault the Lady Buffs to a 45-43 victory over the Lady Leps.
The win gives Giddings (9-9 overall 2-0 in district) early control of the district standings while La Grange falls to 12-5 overall and 1-1 in district play.
After Melcher’s go-ahead bucket, La Grange called timeout to draw up a final play, but the Lady Leps turned the ball over before they could try a game-tying shot and time expired.
“It’s something that we’ve been preaching all year, rebounding and taking care of the ball and it just got to us at the end,” said La Grange head coach Heath Golan. “We didn’t secure some rebounds we needed and they were able to put some shots back in. We had some turnovers at some inopportune times and they took advantage of it.”
Melcher scored a game-high 20 for Giddings and Catherine Rodea added 13.
La Grange didn’t have any players in double figures, but Camille Gonzalez scored nine and Grant and Keslyn Davis each scored eight.
La Grange led most of the game and was up by as many as nine early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Leps went cold at the free-throw line, missing all six free throws they attempted in the fourth quarter.
Also hurting La Grange was foul trouble by star senior Aysia Grant, who went to the bench with her fourth foul right after the Lady Leps took that nine point lead, and from there Giddings mounted their comeback.
“With her out, we lose some athleticism and speed and rebounding and scoring force,” Golan said. “You take all that out, it’s just a tough situation. Some of those calls were borderline, but there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Rodea’s second three-pointer of the fourth quarter tied the game at 41-41 with two minutes left. Melcher had a putback with 1:17 left in the game to put Giddings up 43-41 but then a Katelynn Allen jumper with 20 seconds left tied the game for La Grange, but the Lady Leps couldn’t complete the comeback.
Dec. 14
Giddings girls 45, La Grange 43
La Grange 13 13 5 12 – 43
Giddings 9 12 8 16 – 45
LG scoring: Grant 8, Tisdall 4, Allen 4, Harold 4, Gonzales 9, Sampson 6, Davis 8.
Giddings scoring: Brade 4, Herrera 2, Rodea 13, Melcher 20, Claxton 4, Metcalf 2.