Lady Rangers slip past Lady Cougars

RICHLAND – Lawrence County and Richland split a Division 6-4A double-header Tuesday night at Richland High School.

In the girls’ game, Richland got a basket with 15 seconds left to lift the Lady Rangers to a 57-56 win over the Lady Cougars. Lawrence County had made up a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

In boys’ action, Lawrence County cruised to a 52-25 win, clinching second place in the Division 6-4A standings.

Richland shot the lights out in the first half of the girls’ game, and held a 34-22 lead at halftime. The Lady Rangers increased that lead to 14 points – 44-30 -through three quarters. Trailing 49-35, the Lady Cougars tied the game with a 14-0 run, largely powered by Camryn Davis and DeNeisha Dickson.

A Davis basket with one minute left gave Lawrence County a 55-53 lead. Richland tied it on two Brianna Shores free throws. With 22 seconds remaining, Davis made one-of-two free throws to give LCHS a 56-55 lead. Azaria Howard, a 6-foot center, broke the Lady Cougars’ hearts with the winning lay-up.

Richland finished division play at 2-8. Vicki Rutland’s Lady Cougars fell to 12-14 overall, and 1-8 in the division. Camryn Davis led Lawrence County with 20 points, with 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Dickson added 17 points, and Zipporah Baylis had 12.

Shores and Howard each had 13 points for the Lady Rangers.

There was very little drama in the boys’ game. What little there was resulted from the fact that the two teams wore very similar uniforms – both were gray with red numbers. At one point in the second quarter, two Richland players had a prolonged wrestling match over a loose ball that resulted in a traveling call against one – or perhaps both – of the Richland players, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Lawrence County led 10-3 after one quarter, and 20-5 at the half. Keyshawn Feazell led the Cougars with 14 points and nine rebounds. Gabriel Lewis added eight points. Vernell Garner shared rebounding honors with Feazell. All 13 LCHS players who dressed for the game saw considerable action.

Pat Bridges’ Cougars improved to 18-8 overall, and 7-2 in the division. The win clinched second place in the division standings for Lawrence County, giving the Cougars a first-round bye in next week’s division tourney, and automatically advancing LCHS into the Class 4A playoffs.

Richland, coached by Russell Marsalis, fell to 9-12 overall, and 2-8 in Division 7-4A play. The Rangers were led by Trey Charles, who had eight points.

Lawrence County will close out its regular season at home on Friday, hosting North Pike.