Second-Half Surge Leads Giddings Past Leopards

The La Grange boys led at halftime, but a 13-minute offensive drought in the second half doomed them in a 42-36 basketball loss to Giddings Friday.

Both teams had come into this game tied for third in the district standings, but Giddings now has a leg-up on the Leps with a 4-2 mark in district.

La Grange is 3-3 in district with a 11-13 overall record.

The Leps started strong in this one, leading 12-4 at one point and they were still clinging to a 23-19 lead at halftime.

“Early our shots were falling, we were hitting everything,” said La Grange’s Ty Trlicek, who scored seven. “But then we only had two points in the entire third quarter, we were taking good shots, they just weren’t going in.”

“We weren’t making our shots and Giddings was playing good defense,” said La Grange guard Clayton Knapik.

Over a 13-minute span stretching the entire third quarter and much of the fourth, La Grange only managed two points, while Giddings built a 40-26 lead.

“In the second half we just couldn’t get anything to go. Got to hand it to them, they (Giddings) did a good job defensively,” said La Grange head coach David Cooper. “With the zone they force you to pound it inside and we didn’t do a very good job of getting the ball inside and making plays down there.”

La Grange’s Jaxon Cooper was the only Lep in double figures with 16 points.

Giddings got 15 points from Camron Rimes, who was a dominant force inside, and 13 from Kaden Wolridge.

The Leps did score 10 points in the final 74 seconds of the game but it was too little too late.

“We just need to have more energy to beat the good teams in this district,” Knapik said.

“You feel like giving up 42 points gives us a chance to win, I feel good about what we did defensively,” David Cooper said. “We just couldn’t put enough points on the board.”

La Grange plays at Smithville Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

1/21/22 Giddings boys 42, La Grange 36

Giddings boys 42, La Grange 36

La Grange 12 11 2 11 – 36

Giddings 8 11 12 11 – 42

La Grange scoring: Roberts 3, Baker 2, Trlicek 7, Scott 4, Cooper 16, Woods 4.

Giddings scoring: Cruise 10, Fritsche 3, Clemons 1, Wolridge 13, Rimes 15.

JV: Giddings 37, La Grange 32

LG leading scorer: Dillard

Freshmen: LG 19, Giddings 5

LG leading scorer: Lopez 7

District 20-4A Boys Basketball

LBJ 5-0

Manor NT 4-1

Giddings 4-2

La Grange 3-3

Smithville 2-4

Achieve 1-4

Eastside 0-5