Fayette County escapes late St. Pius rally for Hawks Naismith Tipoff Classic win
The Fayette County Tigers boys basketball team are now off to a 2-0 start as they defeated the St. Pius Golden Lions 57-52 on Saturday at the annual Atlanta Hawks Naismith Tipoff Classic. After a tight affair early on in the first quarter, with the Golden Lions leading 7-6 after a Aiden Portee three point basket, the Tigers would go on a 12-2 to close out the opening period of play with a 18-9 lead.
The second quarter would see St. Pius play the Tigers much closer, however Fayette County would still win the quarter as they outscored the Golden Lions 12-10 to take a 30-19 lead into the locker room at the half. But in the third quarter, St. Pius would swing momentum their way as they would go on a run that would see them cut the Tigers lead to seven as they trailed 41-34 at the end of the period.
As the fourth quarter got underway, the Golden Lions would continue to cut into the Fayette County lead, bring down to two points as they outscored the Tigers 13-8 to make it a 49-47 game in favor of Fayette County. But the Tigers would regroup and down the stretch go on an 8-5 run to close out the game with the win behind 26 points from junior Keith Gillespie with Christian McAllister would add 17 points, while the Golden Lions would be led by Portee with 18 points.
After the game, Fayette County head coach, Andre Flynn said the toughness he has seen from his players through their first two games has been impressive, especially due to the fact that they do not have a lot of experience. “We only have two players that’s played varsity basketball so it’s going to take us a little time to grow as a team,” Flynn said adding that he is “very proud” of his players performance to this point. “I think we’re coming around, I’m very pleased with where we’re at right now,” Flynn said.
