DAWSON, Ga — The Fannin County Middle School 7th grade boys played a hard fought game in the end of season tournament Thursday evening against the Riverside Eagles.In the first quarter rebels center Miles Johnson had all six of Fannin’s points, all coming in the paint. Johnson really created a big man presence standing head and shoulders above the rest of the two teams as the rebels finished the quarter trailing 6-9.

The second quarter the rebels and eagles both played great interior defense which in turn forced both teams to score with jumpers outside of the paint. The rebels trailed going into half time 11-12.

In third quarter both teams stepped up their defenses to the next level causing several turnovers that lead to transition buckets on both ends of the floor. The rebels out scored the eagles 9-8 in the quarter making the two teams tied at 20-20 going into the fourth.

The rebels started the fourth quarter off with full court defense against the eagles which, again, lead to turnovers and transition points. The rebels found their first lead of the game at the 3:15 mark of the fourth quarter with the score being 27-25. Another bucket moments later pushed the rebels lead to 29-25 with 1:30 left in the fourth. The eagles began fouling the rebels to stop the clock since they had fouls to give and stepped up the pressure on defense again causing two quick turnovers and scoring on both. The score was tied at 29-29 with :20 left in the ball game and the rebels with the ball. The rebels couldn’t manage to get a shot off on their final possession of the game, losing the ball out of bounds with :08 left in the quarter. The eagles quickly inbounded the ball and took it the full length of the court where they hit a buzzer beating floater to knock the rebels out of the tournament and ending their season with the final score being 29-31.