A 16-point third-quarter lead almost disappeared late in the fourth quarter as the Cedar Grove Saints held off a furious rally by the Redan Raiders for a 57-54 Region 5-3A win to complete a home doubleheader sweep on Tuesday night.

Ricky Lee, who had 11 points in the third quarter twice gave the Saints (3-13, 2-9) a 16-point lead, made it 16 with a layup at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter before the Raiders began to inch back into the game.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Redan’s Christian Kenerly and Xavian Green pulled the Raiders (9-9, 5-6) within 11 points (47-36) heading into the fourth quarter.

The pair both hit a three in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to close the gap to nine (53-44) with 4:53 remaining in the game.

A rebound and put back by AJ Green with 4:05 extended the lead to 55-44 when the Raiders put together an eight-point run to cut the lead to 55-52 with 1:13 to play. The run was fueled by a steal and layup and then a three by Green as the Saints committed four consecutive turnovers along the way.

Two missed free throws and another turnover gave Redan the opportunity to trim the lead to 55-54 on a Kenerly layup with 11 seconds to play.

Cedar Grove’s EJ Colson was fouled after a timeout and went to the free-throw line with 8.5 seconds to play in the game. Colson calmly knocked down the one-plus-the-bonus to give the Saints a three-point cushion.

Redan got the ball up the court, but the Saints defense forced Redan into a deep, desperation three by Green at the buzzer that went long and was grabbed by AJ Green to seal the win.

Quinton Hall had seven points and Colson added five in the first quarter as the Saints jumped out to an 18-8 advantage heading into the second quarter. Cedar Grove then ended the half with a 7-0 run in the final 1:51 of the first half. Lee stroked a three in final seconds to make it 33-19 at the half.

Lee finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Saints and EJ Colson chipped 16 points. Darius Reynolds added 6 points and 10 rebounds and AJ Green contributed four points and 15 rebounds. Christian Kenerly led Redan with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Xavian Green added 11 points and 5 rebounds.

GIRLS: Cedar Grove 54, Redan 43
Three Cedar Grove Lady Saints scored in double figures in a 54-43 Region 5-3A victory to open the night at Cedar Grove.

Redan (14-7, 7-4) had won the first meeting of the season 49-47 and the game was tight at 7-6 at the end of the first quarter as Redan’s Kennedy Daniels hit a three late in the period to pull her team within one.

Cedar Grove (8-7, 8-3) answered opening the second quarter with a 6-0 run with three of the points coming from Kennedy Cowles to take a 13-6 lead with 6:35 left in the half.

Four different Saints scored in the final 3:49 of the period the final basket with 24 seconds remaining by Heaven Jenkins to give Cedar Grove a 21-12 lead at halftime.

Jenkins made a big save following a rebound at the end of the third quarter by getting the ball to Rickayla Johnson for an easy layup as the quarter ran out for a 33-21 Saints lead with one quarter to play.

Jayla Cook cut the Saints lead to nine (35-26) with 5:57 to play as she hit a long three-pointer.

Cedar Grove answered with an 8-1 run keyed by a three-pointer by Shaniya Porter as the lead was extended to 43-27 with 4:50 to play in the game. Mariah Williams had six points in the final 2:36 of the game to help seal the win.

Kennedy Daniels tried to pull the Raiders back into the game scoring seven points in the final 1:28, but even her three with 5 seconds left was not enough as Cedar Grove eased to the win.

Rickayla Johnson (4 rebounds) and Mariah Williams (6 rebounds) both had 15 points to lead Cedar Grove and Shaniya Porter added 10 points and 5 rebounds.

Kennedy Daniels finished with 18 points (5 rebounds) and Jayla Cook contributed 13 (7 rebounds) for Redan.