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ECHS girls meshing with LaFleur and lacrosse
Gracie LaFleur
Effingham County's Gracie LaFleur winds up for a shot against South Effingham during the Rebels' 9-2 lacrosse victory March 9. LaFleur, the team's leader with 35 goals, had three goals against the Mustangs. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

 

GUYTON – Gracie LaFleur isn’t a newbie to lacrosse, but almost.

The Effingham County junior, a first-team, all-subregion softball catcher, was convinced by her softball sisters to join the lacrosse team as a freshman.

She saw limited time during her first year in the program and didn’t play as a sophomore because of other priorities.

Coming into this spring, LaFleur picked up her stick again not knowing what the season would bring.

“Maybe a month before the season started I started tossing the ball around,” LaFleur said. “I wasn’t that good my freshman year.”

But what a difference two years can make. She’s an aggressive attacker, the perfect complement to finesseful seniors Megan Coleman, Olivia Morgan and Ava Deloach, and the Rebels are mirroring their late-season run of a year ago.

LaFleur scored three goals in ECHS’ 9-2 victory over South Effingham last Wednesday for the team’s seventh straight win.

LaFleur has been key with a team-leading 35 goals, 26 in her last six games.

“Bull in a china shop is a perfect phrase for Gracie,” Rebels coach Alison Lawson said. “She didn’t see a lot of time as a freshman, but even then, you could see the potential and she has the confidence to go with it and that’s a big part of it.”

Against South Effingham, LaFleur scored ECHS’ second goal in the first quarter by following up her own rebound and added two goals in the third quarter when the Rebels doubled down on their 4-0 halftime lead to 8-0 heading into the fourth quarter.

ECHS (9-3, 1-1 in Division 2, Area 4) defeated South Effingham for the second time this season. The Mustangs couldn’t slow down LaFleur in that game either. She scored a career-high seven goals in a 20-10 win on March 27.

“This was our rivalry game and we were playing a lot slower, I don’t know why,” Lawson said. “Our defense on the other hand had a fabulous game, probably one of the best games we’ve had this season.”

Morgan’s three goals, Coleman’s two, and Michaela Gordy’s goal backed up LaFleur’s scoring flurry.

Cerenity Shell
Rebels' lacrosse goalie Cerenity Shell (No. 33) stops a shot by South Effingham's Sophia Smith (No. 6) during the first half of Effingham County's 9-2 victory March 9. Shell made three saves and didn't allow a goal during her first-half of action. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)
Goalie Cerenity Shell, who alternates with Carlee Fleming, blanked an opponent in her half for the second straight game.

South (3-5, 1-2) averted a shutout when Aerial Evans and Sydney Minshall scored goals in the final 3:49.

Effingham County can clinch a home state playoff game with a win over Savannah Christian on April 22. The Rebels defeated the Raiders 14-1 in a non-region game on March 1.

South sits in third place in the four-team area and is assured of a state playoff game.

First-round games in the Division II girls state lacrosse championships are slated for April 28-29.