Leps Beat Manor New Tech by Eight
After losing to Giddings Tuesday to fall out of first place, the La Grange Leps bounced back in a big way Friday downing Manor New Tech 46-38 to leap-frog them in the standings.
La Grange (13-9 overall, 4-1 in district) now sits all alone in second place, one game behind the Buffaloes.
“When you lose a game to your rival you want to come out right away and avenge that loss, and that’s the mindset we took on the court tonight,” said La Grange post Reece Nygren, who had eight points on a night when only four Leps scored.
But it was enough. Jaxon Cooper led the way for La Grange with 17. Nate Scott added 14 and Eli Roberts had seven.
The Leps led most of this game, but New Tech roared to life in the third quarter to take a 30-25 lead.
A pair of Scott jumpers in the closing seconds of the third quarter tied the game at 30-30 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter had spelled doom for the Leps Tuesday in Giddings, but not Friday.
“Whenever the momentum started swaying the other way we were able to grab it back in our favor,” said La Grange senior Jacob Chovanetz. “We had the game, and we were starting to let it get away. We went back to basics, hard defense, that’s what you have to do to get a win.
“We knew we had to pick up the intensity. This is a seniorled team. We said, ‘We have to pick it up.’ We weren’t playing La Grange basketball. Losing this game would have put us in a tough spot.”
La Grange scored eight unanswered to start the fourth quarter and never looked back.
“These kids come out and bring it every night. We did get a little complacent. Going into the fourth quarter I just said, ‘Don’t be complacent. Attack the rim,’” said La Grange head coach David Cooper. “I think New Tech getting into their press defense actually helped us because we weren’t doing much in the halfcourt. Being able to break their press and get some transition points was good to us.”
The Leps have a bye Tuesday and play the final game of the first half of district play Friday at Smithville, before playing each district foe one more time before the end of the regular season.
1/13/23
La Grange boys 46, Manor New Tech 38
Manor New Tech 7 9 14 8 – 38 LG 16 7 7 16 – 46 La Grange scoring: Jaxon Cooper 17, Nate Scott 14, Reece Nygren 8, Eli Roberts 7.
JV: New Tech 49, La Grange 44 Leading scorer: Gunn 13
Freshmen: La Grange 44, New Tech 32
Leading scorer: Kleiber 26
District 22-4A Boys Basketball Giddings 5-0 La Grange 4-1 Manor NT 3-1 Smithville 2-2 Taylor 1-3 Caldwell 0-4 Austin Achieve 0-4