Rockmart’s Yellowjackets walked onto the floor at the Fannin County High School gym with a perfect, 12-0, record Friday night, expecting to head back south on Highway 515 with that record in tact.
But Fannin’s Rebels had a different idea as they defended their home court, spoiling their visitors’ expectations by claiming a 69-66 victory with a never-say-die effort.
The Region 7-AA matchup saw Rockmart score the game’s first two points before Jordan Richerson answered to tie the contest at 2-2.
Rockmart took the lead on along three and was leading 8-4 when #23 turned in a three-point play, finishing from the foul line to pull Fannin to within one at 8-7.
This was the last time Fannin would be that close in the opening eight minutes as Rockmart began pulling away. Ben Bloch put in two points as the quarter neared its end to pull the Rebels within three at 21-18.
Bloch and Richerson both finished the quarter with four points, while Hudson Ethington and Kilton Kaylor combined for ten points.
Rockmart built on its lead in the second stanza. With the half coming to an end, Block grabbed a defensive rebounds and passed to Ethington who raced for a layup to pull Fannin to within nine at halftime, 39-30.
Richerson paced the Rebels with seven second quarter points.
The Yellowjackets came out in a full court press in the third quarter, only to have Kaylor score two off a rebound to close the gap to 39-32.
The teams would swap points for the rest of the eight minute period, with Fannin trailing 54-46 at the buzzer.
Isaiah Angel put in two baskets from the paint, and Richerson and Bloch each drained a three for Fannin. Matthew Ponton, Cole Gribble, and Kaylor had two point each.
As the final eight minutes began ticking off the clock, Gribble drew a foul and hit two from the stripe to close the gap to 54-48.
After Rockmart answered, Gribble scored again to make the score 56-50.
As the clock hit the six minute mark, Bloch hit one of two free throws to pull Fannin to within seven at 58-51.
After Rockmart added two more points to its side of the scoreboard, Angel added two for Fannin that started a ten-point run for the Rebels.
With the score 60-53, Block went to the line to shoot a technical foul, hit one of two, and pulled the Rebels to within six at 60-54. A reverse layup by Richerson, a steal and two-pointer by Bloch, and a three-pointer from Richardson gave the Rebels their first lead of the night at 61-60 with 3:37 to go in the game.
The next two minutes were played mainly at the foul line before Rockmart took a 66-64 lead with 1:37 to go.
With 28 seconds left, Bloch drove the lane to tie the game at 66-66.
Four seconds later, Rockmart was hit with a technical foul for having six players on the court. Block hit the second of two shots to put Fannin up 67-66.
Bloch was fouled after taking the in bounds pass, and again went one of two from the charity stripe to put Fannin ahead 68-66.
With three second left on the clock, Angel was fouled as he fought for a rebound under Rockmart’s board. From the line, he hit the second of two free throws to give the Rebels a 69-66 lead.
The Yellowjackets tried a hail Mary inbounds pass only to have it intercepted by Ponton to end the game.
Fannin now stands with a 3-1 region record, joining Rockmart, North Murray and Model with the same worksheet. The win improved Fannin’s season mark to 6-7.