LA cagers advance to regional finals; Raiders’ seasons end
The Laurens Academy Crusaders saw both of their varsity basketball teams advance to the Region 2-A finals with victories Friday night at Greenwood Christian – while both Laurens basketball teams brought their seasons to their conclusion with losses at Greenwood.
LA’s girls advanced to the regional final with a 39-11 victory over Anderson Christian. Ruthie Moore had 16 points for the Crusaders, who held Anderson Christian to five field goals – including one 3-pointer – in the contest.
LA will play Newberry Academy in the regional final at 3 p.m.
The LA boys, meanwhile, outscored Anderson Christian 12-4 in overtime as the Crusaders picked up a 48-40 victory to reach the regional final and earn a match with Richard Winn.
Noah Moore had 18 points and Dawson Foster had 14, including seven in overtime, for the Crusaders.
LA’s boys will play immediately after the girls’ regional final.
Laurens: The Raider boys had it in their hands – defeat Greenwood and make the state tournament – but it wasn’t meant to be.
Laurens, after trailing by as much as 16 points in the second half, rallied back to within three with less than 2 minutes to go, but could not get any closer as the rival Greenwood Eagles picked up a 78-70 victory.
Any faint hope for a tournament bid then was extinguished when J.L. Mann upset Wade Hampton go clinch another tournament spot.
Leonard Williams led the Raiders with 20 points to lead three Raiders in double figures. Dee Foster added 15 points and Christian Anderson scored 13.
Laurens ends the season at 10-16 overall, 5-9 in Region 1-5A, and lost its last four straight games.
Laurens’ girls, meanwhile, led by as much as six in the first half and were up 20-19 at the half against Greenwood, but the Eagles used a 25-8 run in the second half to break a 21-all tie and ease home with a 60-35 victory over the Raiders (6-18, 2-12).
The Raiders hit six 3-pointers in the game, two more than the total number of 2-pointers made. Ashanti Conway hit three of the team’s six 3-pointers and finished with a team-high nine points. Qua Fortson had eight points and Kenaja Burnside had seven – all on free throws.
