Fifteen first quarter points were the springboard the eighth grade boys from Fannin County Middle School needed to win the North Georgia Mountain League tourney and bring home the league championship.
The Rebels faced Clear Creek in the title game Monday, January 24, at Lumpkin County and came back across the mountain with a 60-37 win and the first place trophy.
Five Rebels, Jordan Richerson, Matthew Ponton, Judah Wood, Hudson York and Cade Dockery all put points on the board in the opening period.
Defensively, the young Rebels kept Clear Creek out of double figures, holding the opponents to nine first quarter points.
Using that first quarter 15-9 lead, the Rebels stretched their advantage to 27-17 by the time the first half ended. The 12 Rebel points came from Richerson, Ponton and Brodey Angel.
Again the Rebels held Clear Creek under the double digit mark, giving up only eight second quarter points.
Nothing could slow down the championship hunger for Fannin in the second half as the Rebels won the third quarter 17-11 and the final period 16-9.
Wood paced the third period with eight points, and head coach Jeff Daves cleared his bench in the fourth quarter. By the final buzzer, 10 of the Rebels put points on the board and all saw action.
Richerson led the scoring with 15 points and right behind him was Wood with 14. Angel almost broke into double digits, finishing the game with nine points.
FCMS 15 12 17 16 - 60
CCMS 9 8 11 9 - 37
Rebel summary:
Points: Richerson 15, Wood 14, Angel 9, Ponton 7, Dockery 4, Miller Denton 4, Conner Kyle 2, Brody Henson 2, Holden Eavenson 2, Hudson York 1.
Free throws: Richerson 2-4, Ponton 2-2, Angel 1-1, Wood 2-6, Denton 0-2, York 1-2, Henson 2-2, Dockery 2-2.