By By Austin Bishop/Special To The Star
Jan. 24, 2001
And a streak is born.
After picking up just three wins in their first 24 games, the Lady Raiders of Lamar School have won their last two.
Lamar pays a visit to Kemper Academy on Friday night before hosting the four-team Division 3-AAA Tournament a week from Friday.
The Lamar boys fell victim to 31 turnovers and 24 offensive rebounds by Heritage, as the Patriots took a 59-52 victory.
The girls game was one of balance for the Lady Raiders, something they haven't had a lot of during the season.
Lamar scored nine points in the first quarter, 11 in the second and 10 in both the third and fourth quarters.
The balanced scoring was also there with April Rodgers hitting a pair of three pointers on the way to a team-high 11 points, with Myleia Shirley scoring nine and Erin Ready eight.
Lamar had a 15-point lead at 30-15, but Heritage rallied to cut it to 30-21.
Heritage Boys 59, Lamar 52: Despite the basket full of turnovers, the Raiders had a legitimate chance to win the game.
Heritage led 27-25 at the half, and after the Patriots made a basket to go up four, Lamar's Dusty Jones knocked in a three-pointer to cut it to one at 29-28.
But even after Heritage stretched its lead to 40-28, the Raiders wouldn't go away.
Jones hit a basket and his fifth three-pointer of the game and Jared McKee added a basket to cut the HA lead to 40-35 after three quarters of play.
The Patriots built the lead back up to nine points, but Lamar made a final run to cut it to 53-49 on a basket by McKee off a nice pass inside by Cooper Huff with 51 seconds left. The score was set up by a steal by Sam Eakes that ignited a fast break.
But Heritage responded and held on for the seven-point win, dropping the Raiders to 7-18 on the season.
McKee was 7-for-8 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 24 points. He also blocked four shots in the game.
Jones scored 23 points for the Raiders, while pulling down a team-high six rebounds and picking up three steals.
Heritage outrebounded Lamar 39-26 and held the Raiders to just three offensive rebounds.
Hunter Ferguson led Heritage with 19 points, while Ryan Mahan added 11.