Bryson Wright led a third quarter charge for the Fannin County Rebels that gave the team its second region win, 64-62, Friday night in Trenton, Georgia.
The Rebels went toe-to-toe with the Dade County Wolverines for the first 16 minutes of the contest.
First quarter action saw Fannin County light up the nets for 18 points behind a 9-point performance from Chasen Ethington. Five points from Landon Norton and two each from Jordan Bennett and Ben Bloch helped Fannin outscore Dade 18-17 at the first buzzer.
Then defense stepped up on both ends of the court.
Two long three-pointers from Bennett were the highlight of the Rebels’ offense, which scored nine points in the quarter. Foul shots from Ethington and Caleb Green rounded out the scoring.
Dade put in 11 points on the other end of the court to take a one-point lead, 28-27, over the Rebels at halftime.
Then came the third stanza and the home team advantage disappeared.
Wright paced Fannin County with eight points, with Norton right on his heels as Fannin County poured in 22 points. Ethington had four of those and Block drained a three.
Dade scored 17 points and Fannin sat atop a 49-45 lead going into the final minutes.
The same as the previous Tuesday night on Fannin’s home court, the game was far from over, but in Trenton the Rebels came away with their desired outcome.
Ethington scored seven points, Norton added five, and Will Jones scored his three points of the game giving the Rebels 15 points in the last eight minutes. This proved to be enough to hold off a 17-point charge by the hosts.
Ethington was the scoring leader for Fannin County with 22 points. Also breaking the double-figure barrier was Norton with 17. Bennett and Wright both had eight points, Block added five, Jones contributed three and Green had a foul shot in the Rebels’ victory.
FCHS 18 9 22 15 - 64
DCHS 17 11 17 17 - 62
Rebel summary:
Points: Ethington 22, Norton 17, Bennett 8, Wright 8, Block 5, Jones 3.
Free throws: Green 1-2, Ethington 3-5, Norton 3-5, Bennett 0-3, Wright 2-3, Jones 1-1.