Leps Shock Salado
Furious Comeback Leads Leps to Playoff Win
CAMERON – Dana Baker said the tears were already forming in his eyes as La Grange’s only senior boys basketball player faced the prospect that his career was ticking down to its final seconds.
But the only tears Baker shed Tuesday were ones of joy as he capped a magical playoff comeback by the Leps that sends La Grange to the second round.
Down by seven to Salado with 1:05 to go in a first round 4A playoff game in Cameron, the Leps rallied to score eight unanswered points over the final 65 seconds to win 51-50.
It was Baker’s lay-up with six seconds to go that put the Leps up to stay after they had trailed by as many as 12 in the second half.
“I was starting to tear up,” Baker said as Salado built that big lead. “But we kept playing.”
“I just kept thinking this could be Dana’s last game, I didn’t want this to be my last game with him,” said Leps sophomore Nate Scott, who scored seven of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
La Grange got a put-back from Scott with 1:05 left to trim the Salado lead to 50-45, and then Jaren Woods made two free-throws with 31 seconds left to cut the deficit to three.
Then Jaxon Cooper, who scored a team-high 17, scooped up a Salado turnover and made a lay-up with 18 seconds left and suddenly the Leps trailed just 50-49.
But they needed a little more magic. They got it when Clayton Knapik wrestled away the ball from a Salado player at midcourt, passed it to Cooper, who saw a wide-open Baker under the basket.
“I didn’t think he (Jaxon Cooper) was going to pass it to me because I can not make an open lay-up to be honest,” Baker said. “I just threw it up there and it went I. I want to thank him for believing in me. I love him. I was very excited.
“I should have waited to celebrate a bit because they still had time on the clock, but it was a great game.”
Jaxon Cooper said, “I put my trust in Dana and I knew he was going to make it.”
After Baker’s lay-up, Salado still had time for a final shot but it was short and the celebration continued for the Leps (17-14), who now advance to play Friday at Georgetown High School at 7 p.m. versus Waco Connally (29-3).
Connally’s got the impressive record, but the Leps have plenty of confidence now too after back-to-back last second wins. Last week the Leps beat Giddings on a buzzer-beater by Scott in the regular season finale.
Somehow that was only the secondmost dramatic win in a week for La Grange.
“This one feels better because it’s the playoffs,” Scott said.
Asked about where Tuesday’s win ranks among comebacks he’s been a part of, longtime La Grange head coach David Cooper didn’t have to think long.
“This has got to be No. 1 as far as basketball goes,” David Cooper said. “We just did a great job of picking up the pressure on the press and getting some turnovers and converting at the end ... I’ve gotta hand it to Salado. They were so savvy and knocked shots down, but we overcame it.”
This was a battle right from the start, and the teams were tied 21-21 at halftime. But a rough third quarter left La Grange down 39-29 going into the fourth.
Salado (22-13) was led by a 22-point night by Josh Goings.
“They started pressing and we just didn’t execute our press break very well,” Scott said.
Salado’s 6-foot-4 Brady Ihler fouled out of the game with 2:09 left, and though he didn’t score at all Tuesday, his departure allowed the Leps to better attack the basket late in the game.
“You just have to know that anything can happen,” Jaxon Cooper said. “It was crazy how it turned out. We got some steals, got some lay-ups, we were down by seven and all of a sudden we were up by one.”
2/2/22
La Grange boys 51, Salado 50
La Grange 13 8 8 22 – 51
Salado 11 10 18 11 – 50
La Grange scoring: Eli Roberts 2, Dana Baker 9, Nate Scott 16, Jaxon Cooper 17, Jordan Bargas 2, Jaren Woods 5.