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Druid Hills Boys Snap Five-Game Win Streak

Mount Pisgah Christian tops Druid Hills in double overtime

(14-6, 1-3 5B-A) ended ’ (9-10, 5-3) five game winning streak in an 84-77 double overtime thriller Saturday night.

In a game that went back and forth with both teams dominating for various stretches, the Patriots wound up outlasting the Red Devils in the second overtime thanks to a 10 to five run.

“This is a big win for us, a real big win. I’m just excited for the kids. I think this is going to help us out,” Douglas Bird, Mount Pisgah Christian head coach, said.

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The Patriots, a Single-A school in a tough region, have gone through a lot this season. They entered the game Saturday night on a four game skid with two starters and their sixth man out for the season with injuries.

To add to matters, Jerome Lee’s Druid Hills squad was one of the hottest teams in metro Atlanta. The Red Devils were winners of eight of their last nine and on a five game winning streak.

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“Their team is going to do some damage in the playoffs,” Lee said. “They’re just a tough team. Single-A? Nah, they can compete with anybody in AAAAA. With that size, with that play and with their shooting ability, and you saw them slam a couple off the rim; no they can compete with anybody.”

Regulation ended with Mount Pisgah Christian’s Danny Schneider giving his team a 65-63 lead on an acrobatic shot with one minute remaining. The Red Devil’s Garrison Webb responded with a crazy shot of his own to tie the game with 16 seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

In the first overtime it was Schneider who led all scorers with 26 points and Webb was right behind him with 25.

This time Schneider got the last laugh.

Webb went to the line with 13 seconds remaining and made both of his free throw attempts.

Mount Pisgah Christian quickly inbounded the ball, fighting against the Druid Hills full court press, which caused them fits all night. The ball once again ended up in Schneider’s hands, and the Patriot forward banked an incredible shot in as the horn sounded to tie the game at 72-72.

“That was probably one of the biggest shots I’ve seen all year from a team who was under the gun. That was just such a great shot. Under those circumstances, off the wrong foot, bank it off the glass. You could easily miss that shot,” Lee said.

With then leading scorer Kyle Sloter having fouled out in the fourth quarter, Schneider carried the Patriots on his back down the home stretch.

 “I know he was hurting. I just told him during the time out ‘son, just grab a little bit out and whatever you have left and we can win this game,’ Bird said.

In the second overtime period, Mount Pisgah Christian hit big shot after big shot, starting it off with a five to zero pint run that took Druid Hills completely off their game.

 “I thought that they probably exploited our weakness as well as anybody has by going inside and not giving up on it. They went inside late, they went inside hard and they didn’t waiver from that,” Lee said.

Bird’s Patriot squad defied the odds. Down players, against a team from a higher division and as hot as can be, they prevailed in what was an emotional game at Druid Hills High School.

 “The last four games has been a struggle and we just needed a win,” Bird said. “This is a great Druid Hills team and they gave us all they could give us. We’ve fought and I’ve never seen our kids fight like this. Our backs were against the wall and we were able to squeak out this victory. I’m just so happy for these boys because they showed the resilience and the fortitude and the intensity.”

After the win, Mount Pisgah Christian heads back to region play to round out their regular season. Druid Hills continues a tough stretch of a lot of basketball.

“Winning streak comes to an end but that’s not even the real situation,” Lee said. “Do we bounce back is the real situation? Do we bounce back and be effective like we were before this? I think we can, I hope we can because we are going to need to.”

The Red Devils host Washington on Tuesday, Lithonia on Wednesday, and take Thursday off before going to North Springs on Friday and returning home Saturday for a matchup with Stone Mountain.

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