Rabbs continue win streak

Atlanta's Kim Dickerson, left, Alex Boston (3) and Caleb Hamilton converge on defense against Arp's Johnathan Blackwell during the first quarter of a Class 3A boys area basketball game Thursday at Longview's Lobo Coliseum.
Atlanta's Kim Dickerson, left, Alex Boston (3) and Caleb Hamilton converge on defense against Arp's Johnathan Blackwell during the first quarter of a Class 3A boys area basketball game Thursday at Longview's Lobo Coliseum.

LONGVIEW, Texas - Atlanta survived a power outage and a late charge by Arp in the Class 3A area boys basketball game Thursday at Longview's Lobo Coliseum.

The Rabbs shot 50 percent on 20 of 40 field goals, won the rebounding battle, 41-37, and had a fourth-quarter run to gain a 53-45 lead before hanging on for a 56-53 victory to extend their win streak to 14 in a row.

Once the lights came back on, the Tigers made a run at the lead but never were able to tie the score. Arp shot 30 percent on 21 of 70 shots and committed just 12 turnovers, compared to 17 for Atlanta.

The Tigers' season ended at 17-7, and Atlanta (18-4) advances to the regional quarterfinals against Mineola, likely to be played Saturday.

"We switched to a man-to-man defense in the fourth and it gave them a look they hadn't seen from us," Atlanta coach Jarrod Boston said. "We were able to keep them in front of us, block out, limit their chances and capitalize at the other end.

"(During the outage) we told the kids to just keep focused. We were up eight, and we felt good about where we were, as long as we kept playing hard."

Arp came out of halftime and scored the first four points, taking a 37-31 advantage. However, the Rabbits scored three straight buckets to tie the game with 6:04 left in the third. Atlanta regained an earlier lead twice, but the Tigers brought the score even at 41 to start the fourth quarter.

Daimion Collins scored on consecutive possessions - the first a dunk to start the rally - to stake the Rabbs to a 47-45 lead with 3:59 left in the game. After a pair of missed free throws were missed by Arp, Collins converted a pair of charity shots to make it 49-45 with 3:18 left.

Collins scored again on a layup at 2:35, and Alex Boston scored off a long pass from Key Easter on a steal, taking a 53-45 lead with 2:19 remaining. Collins grabbed another rebound and was off to the races on a fast break when the gymnasium lights went off with 1:32 left.

After a 20-minute delay to regain power and get the lights on, Arp scored six in a row to get to 53-51. The Rabbs missed the front ends of two one-and-ones during that span, but finally got a free throw to fall with 19 ticks left to go up 54-51. After a Tiger layup, Collins hit a pair of foul shots, and Boston stole the in-bounds at half court to preserve the win.

Collins finished with 24 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks for his second straight triple-double in the postseason. Boston added 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Tigers started strong, breaking a 4-all tie with a 7-point run to go ahead 11-4 with 4:53 left in the first quarter. Atlanta closed the gap to two (14-12) with a 5-point streak, but Arp scored on a fast break at the buzzer to take a 16-12 lead at the first break.

The Tigers were up 18-14 when Collins dunked on an apply oop from Boston, and another Collins layup sparked a 5-point run to knot the score at 21. The Rabbs took their first lead with 2:39 left in the half at 25-24. Arp had an 8-1 run to go ahead 33-29 and led 33-31 at halftime.

Atlanta shot 61 percent (11 of 18) in the first half, had 17 rebounds and committed 11 turnovers. The Tigers shot 32 percent (12 of 38), had 18 rebounds and committed seven turnovers before intermission.

Zach Mauldin scored 14 points to lead Arp, and Johnathan Blackwell and Kadaylon Williams scores 12 apiece. Blackwell also had 12 rebounds.

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