In what has been a stellar season for the DeKalb Middle Schools Saints, there has been but one blemish to their 16-1 record – that coming on a buzzer beating heave by White County early in the season.
This past week, the Saints got another crack at the team that kept them from regular season perfection. This time there were no buzzer beaters. There was just revenge as the Saints won 42-26 in Sparta, avenging their only loss of the year.
It looked like it might be déjà vu all over again in the first as White County jumped out to a 6-4 lead with neither team able to find the basket. Things took a dramatic change in the second; however, as the Saints exploded thanks to Connor Close who put in eight in the second, scoring as many as all White County players combined in the second. Unable to answer the bell, Sparta fell behind by nine at the half but came out swinging as the Saints again had an offensive swoon, allowing their hosts to close to within three baskets going into the final stanza.
The Saints would not have the game come down to another buzzer beater a Robert Wheeler took over, hitting eight of his game high 13 to lead all scorers. His production was infectious as five Saints joined him in the scoring column on the way to a 17-7 domination of Sparta in the final quarter.
The Saints were helped in scoring by Zachary Birmingham with seven, Mason Winter with five, Elishah Ramos with three and Stetson Agee with two.
The Saints have just two games left after the break, one at Watertown on Jan. 7 and the next at Cannon County on Jan. 10. They will then enter the James C. Hale state tournament slated to begin Jan. 14.
For the girls, it was scratch and claw all the way, the Lady Saints claiming a hard-fought 27-25 win at White County. It was a game of eights for DeKalb Middle as they scored eight in every quarter except the second where they swooned and registered only three points.
Down by four at half, the Lady Saints were only able to keep pace in the third, a Morgan Walker three leading the way in the stanza. The fourth proved to be the key as the Lady Saints put up eight while holding Sparta to just a single Rylee Savage basket, giving DeKalb just enough for the two-point victory.
Scoring for the Lady Saints were Ella VanVraken with 10, Avery Agee with seven, Morgan Walker and Cadee Griffith with five..
