LAPEL — The Lapel Bulldogs battled nearby rival Frankton on the newly named Jimmie Howell Court on Saturday, Nov. 26, but the Eagles held off a late game charge to hand Lapel a 30-25 loss.
Sophomore Bode Judge scored 10 of the Bulldogs’ points, while brother Brode added seven.
Junior Matthew Carpenter added six.
“Obviously a tale of two halves,” Lapel coach Kevin Cherry said. “We got into foul trouble early. We have to do better of not putting ourselves in that situation that early in the game.”
Bates said Frankton played very deliberate ball during the first half and took extremely long possessions.
“In some ways, I thought that showed us a lot of respect that they wanted to hold it,” Bates said.
Frankton took a 6-5 lead at the end of the first quarter after employing a stall tactic for most of the final two minutes in the quarter.
Lapel went scoreless in the second quarter when shot after shot failed to hit its mark.
At halftime, the Eagles had a 16-5 lead.
They maintained the 10-point margin throughout the third quarter, but in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Lapel mounted a charge, first cutting the margin to eight, then three with just 11 seconds remaining in the game.
Forced to foul and send Frankton to the line, Eagle Tyler Bates hit both free throws to seal the win for the Eagles.
“We have a lot of things we need to happen,” Bates said. “Our shot selection at times needs work. In the first half, we shot threes that we could have got at any time instead of going inside, playing to the post like we preach and stress. Our guys are still learning to trust one another.”
With this young team, Bates said they still have a lot of time to learn this season.
In their opening night action the previous night at Anderson, the Indians won the contest 62-31.
At 0-2, the Bulldogs host Pendleton Heights Friday, Dec. 2. The JV tipoff is at 6 p.m.
