BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
BEAUREGARD – In the final game of the regular season, the LaFayette High School girls and boys basketball teams travelled down Chambers County Road 83 to face Beauregard High School in a tune-up before area play.
The Bulldogs split those games against the Hornets on Jan. 29 as the Lady Hornets (14-7) slowly pulled away from the Lady Bulldogs (7-15) to secure a 68-45 win while the Bulldogs (21-7) overwhelmed the Hornets (6-11) offensively for a dominant 71-40 victory.
Lady Hornets 68. Lady Bulldogs 45
Despite an excellent shooting performance from the Lady Bulldogs in the first quarter’s opening minutes, the Lady Hornets slowly pulled away from LHS by scoring in almost any situation, whether it was fast-break opportunities, three-pointers or contested shots in the paint. However, the Lady Bulldogs were persistent as Z’niyah Boston’s and Paris Holloway’s jump shots continued to fall in the final two minutes.
While up 19-16 entering the second quarter, LHS’ good luck quickly ran out as BHS managed to go on a 13-0 run in the first three minutes to open up a double-digit lead. That caused LHS head coach Travis Carswell to call a timeout and calm down the Lady Bulldogs, who then looked much better and closed the Lady Hornets’ lead to 36-28 going into halftime.
Following the break, BHS stormed out of the gate with an aggressive full-court press that forced several turnovers from LHS, and excelled offensive rebounding gave the Lady Hornets plenty of second-chance scoring opportunities. Yet for all of BHS’ advantages in the third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs stuck around behind Boston’s willpower and entered the fourth quarter down 52-39.
In the end, the Lady Hornets’ strategy of constantly pressuring LHS’ ball handlers paid off as BHS’ lead slowly grew through the fourth quarter and the Lady Bulldogs found it difficult to get other players involved offensively.
Kalise Culbertson and Kam Torbert both scored 17 points for the Lady Hornets, while Lindsey Moulton added 15 points. Boston led all scorers with 24 points for LHS, and Paris Holloway chipped in nine points.
Bulldogs 71, Hornets 40
In the boys’ game, the Bulldogs wasted little time after Amilleon Huguley hit two quick three-pointers to help power LHS to a 12-2 lead within the first three minutes of the game. With the Bulldogs already with a strong lead, Jayden Thomason further improved their lead with some impressive dunks as LHS finished the first quarter with a 22-8 lead.
While it was the Bulldogs’ offense that powered LHS early, the defense took a step forward in the second quarter by harassing the Hornets’ ball handlers and forcing turnovers while Huguley continued making life miserable for BHS. However, some sloppy play by the Bulldogs in the closing minutes allowed the Hornets to slightly close the gap as Davis Fuller particularly took advantage of his scoring opportunities.
Up 37-20 coming out of halftime, LHS began putting real distance between itself and BHS with an initial strong performance defensively and a balanced scoring approach that saw four different players score multiple baskets. Yet the Hornets managed to get to the free throw line often enough to keep the margin from growing much further.
By the time the fourth quarter began, the Bulldogs had a 58-32 lead and were well on their way to earning yet another dominant victory right before they hosted the 2A Area 6 area tournament. The remainder of the game then featured mostly free throws as both teams chose to give bench players more playing time.
Huguley scored a game-high 21 points for LHS while Thomason contributed 15 points. In total, 11 players scored for the Bulldogs. Fuller paced BHS with 10 points.
