In Jan. 8 Issue
By Derek Aaron
Times Journal Sports Editor

The Lady Lakers won their opening round game in the First Southern Bank / Roy’s Bar-B-Q Holiday Classic in Russellville defeating Menifee County 73-45 last week.

Kim Pierce and LeeAnn Grider both had 16 points each while Lindsay Ramage scored 15 and Heather Burton tallied 11 points for Coach Craig Pippen’s Lady Lakers.

The Lady Lakers then played Pickett County, Tenn. but and were defeated 64-57. LeeAnn Grider scored 22 points while Kim Pierce had 19 for the Lady Lakers. Lindsay Ramage scored nine points and Kyle Thomas added six points in the loss. Sara McClure also had one point.

Coach Craig Pippen’s team also defeated John Hardin High School on Wednesday by a score of 33-28 in their final day of the tourney. It was a comeback win for the girls they trailed by nine points at the 6:19 mark of the third quarter. The ladies tied the game with a 3-pointer from Blair Hoover with 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter and took the lead for good  with 31 seconds left on a 3-point basket by LeeAnn Grider.

The ladies left Logan County with a 7-2 record on the season.

“I was pleased to get two wins on the road during the Christmas tournament at Logan County,” said Coach Craig Pippen.

“We played very well in the Menifee County and Pickett County, Tenn. games and then had a sub-par performance in the John Hardin game. We did manage to escape with two wins and that is very important going into our January schedule.”

Pippen said he was very pleased with the play of sophomore Lindsay Ramage.

“Lindsay has decided to sprint the floor and help us establish a solid transition game,” he said.

The coach also lauded the play of LeeAnn Grider. who had a nice tournament scoring 48 points and dishing out 15 assists over the three-game period.

As for Coach Willie Feldhaus’ Lakers, they won their first game of the Monticello Bank Classic in Wayne County to improve to 9-0 on the season but were defeated once, giving them their first loss of the year.

The Lakers defeated George Washington Carver High School from Memphis, Tenn. by a score of 79-73 in their first game of the classic.

Robbie Bell led the Lakers with 26 points while Bryon Ellis had 21 and Bryson McFall had 14 in the win.

In their next game, the Lakers were defeated by Chattanooga Baylor, 79-53, for their first loss of the season.

Bryon Ellis had 12 points and Robbie Bell scored 11 to lead the Lakers.

The Laker boys played again in the Monticello Bank Classic as they took on Rockcastle County and won 59-39.

Bryon Ellis led the Lakers with 20 points followed by Robbie Bell with 15 and Zack Carney with 10.

The Lakers finished up against Clinton, Tenn. in their last game of the tournament, getting another win 69-57. The Lakers left the classic 3-1 and with an 11-1 record on the year.

“We played against some pretty good teams and we played well,” Feldhaus said. “The (game) we took off we took off though, we never were really in the ballgame but we’re not making any excuses.”

Feldhaus said he never expected to have this much early season success but is taking it in stride and using every day in practice as a learning tool for his impressive team.