Leps Beat Manor New Tech to Improve to 2-0 in District Play
The La Grange High School boy’s basketball team improved its record to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in district Saturday afternoon as they took down Manor New Tech 54-39.
Both teams struggled offensively to begin with until the Leopards put their foot on the accelerator in the 2nd quarter and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the bulk of the match.
“For the most part, we won the game defensively in the first half,” said La Grange head boy’s basketball coach David Cooper. “We took a 15 point lead into halftime. Obviously, the game is still in hand, not knowing what’s going to happen in the second half. Holding them to 10 points in the first half got us off to a great start. We always know we’re going to probably score around 45- 50 points a game, so if we can hold somebody to 10 points in the first half, they’re going to really have to light it up in the second half to get back in it.”
Leopards shooting guard and son of David Cooper, Jaxon Cooper, had all eight of his points in the second quarter and provided the spark to what would be a dominating team performance throughout the rest of the contest.
“I’m just trying to make plays for the team,” Jaxon Cooper said. “Get some energy going within the team and get them rolling. After the first quarter, we didn’t have that many baskets, so just trying to pick up the pace a little.”
La Grange played a man-to-man defense the whole game as opposed to Manor New Tech, who started in a 3-1-1 halfcourt trap defense. Early in the first quarter, they would go into a 2-3 zone once the ball made it to the perimeter. The Titans also switched to a man-to-man defense a couple possessions later. A low scoring first quarter led to a 9-6 scoreboard for La Grange with answered lay-ups on both ends and a made threepointer by point guard Caden Cooper. New Tech showed their man-to-man half court defense again and tied the game at 10 about midway through the second period with a three-point shot off the glass from shooting guard Jaquille Rosario. Towards the end of the quarter was when the Leopards turned it on with a steal followed by a three-point basket and foul play from point guard Jordan Scott to extend the Leopards advantage to 17-10. 30 seconds later, Jaxon Cooper inbounded the ball under his own team’s basket and received a pass right back in the corner for a made three-pointer.
The Cooper brothers ended the first half on a high note as Caden Cooper launched a halfcourt shot at the buzzer that smoothly rolled in the hoop to give the Leopards a 25-10 lead going into the locker room. New Tech started the second half in a 3-2 full court-press, but it didn’t cause any problems for La Grange as they were able to break it and still find ways to the rim. More shots were falling for the Titans in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough as La Grange’s scoring loomed too large and were able to run a calm half-court offense to close out the game and secure a 54-39 victory.
1/2/21
La Grange boys 54, Manor New Tech 39
Manor New Tech 6 4 17 12 – 39
La Grange 9 16 16 13 – 54
LG scoring: Caden Cooper 18, Dana Baker 8, Jaxon Cooper 8, Jordan Scott 5, Andrew Faske 5, Eli Roberts 4, Alijah Grant 2, Ty Trlicek 2, Andrew Bargas 2.