Southwest DeKalb’s Xzaviah Taylor (with ball) drives past Hapeville’s Amadou Balde during second half action of the Panthers’ come-from-behind overtime win in Region 6-4A action Southwest DeKalb on Friday night. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Xzaviah and Isaiah Taylor sparked the Southwest DeKalb Panthers to a come-from-behind, Region 6-4A 57-55 overtime victory at home over the Hapeville Hornets on Friday night.
The No. 3 ranked Panthers (20-2, 13-0) overcame a 15-turnover first half and 21 for the night to claw their way back after trailing by as much eight points early in the third quarter. A three-pointer by Messiah Mergan with 17 seconds left in the third pulled the Panthers to within 41-39 of the Hornets (13-9, 7-7) heading into the fourth quarter.
A slow, high rebound off a bad shot by Hapeville was rebounded by Thad Buttone and put back up and in to give Hapeville a 47-44 lead with 43 seconds remaining.
Langston Scales rebounded a Panther shot on the other end and got the ball up the floor to Amadou Balde who was fouled with 6.7 seconds to play. Balde missed the front end of the one-and-one and Savion Mathis grabbed the rebound and got the ball up the court in a hurry.
Mathis found Xzaviah Taylor in the right corner for a final shot. Taylor faked a defender and as he flew past hit nothing but net on his three-pointer as the buzzer went off to send the teams into overtime knotted at 47-47.
Isaiah Taylor gave the Panthers the lead twice in the overtime. The first on two free throws with 1:28 to play and again on a driving layup with 54 seconds left to make it 55-54.
Hapeville’s Coleman Riley hit one of two-free throws with 25 seconds left to knot the game once again at 55.
Southwest got the ball in Xzaviah Taylor’s hands and as the shot clock ticked down towards 10 seconds remaining, he took a jumper that hit short and bounced right back to him. He put the ball back up and in for the 57-55 lead.
Hapeville got a timeout with 6.4 seconds left on the game clock to set up for the final play of the game. Riley put up a rushed three with two seconds to play and ball bounced out to Southwest DeKalb’s Mathis as the final second ran off the clock to end the game with the Panthers ahead 57-55.
Xzaviah Taylor finished the night with 15 points and 13 rebounds (8 in the second half) to lead the Panthers. Ten other Panthers scored in the game.
Hapeville had three players in double figure including Langston Scales with 12, Amadou Balde with 11 and Coleman Riley with 10.
Southwest DeKalb’s Camille Files (with ball) drives towards the lane against Hapeville’s Ava Riley during the Lady Panthers 74-50 win on Friday night. (Photo by Mark Brock)
(G) SW DeKalb 74, Hapeville 50
Jah’Naesia Spiers three-pointer from the corner off an inbounds pass with 6:08 to play in the first half gave the Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers the lead for good on the way to a Region 6-4A 74-50 win over the Hapeville Lady Hornets to open the night at Southwest DeKalb.
Saniya Rice put together a 5-0 run of her own in a one-minute span to lead the Lady Panthers (13-9, 10-3) to a 33-25 advantage at the half.
Spiers hit for six points in the third quarter and teammate Janiya McCoy added eight, including two three-pointers as Southwest upped its advantage to 49-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
Camille Files fed Rice in the corner for a three with 6:45 to play to complete a 7-0 run to open the final period to expand the lead to 19 (56-37) and Hapeville never really challenged the rest of way.
Janiya McCoy was the high scorer for the Lady Panthers with 19 points followed by Spiers with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Saniya Rice with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Bailee Canty with 10 points. Mariya Shields grabbed 10 rebounds for Southwest.
Hapeville (12-9, 7-7) got 19 points and 6 rebounds from Ava Riley and 16 points and 6 rebounds from Markayla Lockhart.