The annual Lemon Street Classic continued on Monday with the second day of boys basketball action and the South Atlanta Hornets were back in action looking to rebound from their day one loss to the Johns Creek Gladiators, who were also in action taking on the Cherokee Warriors, with the Gladiators looking for their 11th straight win and the Warriors hoping to secure their sixth straight win.
In the Hornets' matchup with the Tift County Blue Devils South Atlanta would find themselves trailing by 12 points early in the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils led 55-43, however North Carolina Central commit, Duor Duor, who finished with a game high 32 points, and Bol Deng, who finished with 18 points, would combine for 17 points in the period to held lead the Hornets to the 65-63 win.
"They just didn't have any quit in them," South Atlanta head coach, Stephon Porter Jr., said following the Hornets come from behind win on Monday, praising his players for their efforts to overcome the 12 point deficit. "We talked a lot before the game about us having to win games like this in order to get to where we want to go, so I learned that they don't have any quit in them," Porter Jr. said of watching his players in the win over Tift County.
With the win, South Atlanta improved to 9-2 on the season and will wrap up the Lemon Street Classic on Tuesday when they take on Locust Grove. Following the Hornets win over the Blue Devils, Johns Creek hit the court to face Cherokee in a matchup which featured several lead changes throughout the first quarter, However the Gladiators would lead 30-28 at halftime.
In the third quarter, momentum remained behind Johns Creek as they would increase their lead to 11 points by the end of the period as Tatum Holmes, who finished with 25 points, and Kayson Brock, who contributed 13 points, combined for 18 of the Gladiators 25 points in the quarter, to give them a 46-55 lead to start the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors would get a huge lift from junior, Braylon Luster, who would score 10 of his 21 points in the period to get Cherokee within one point of the Gladiators as they trailed 62-61, but Johns Creek would close out on a 7-2 run to pick up the 69-63 win.
"I though it was a really great win for us," Johns Creek head coach, Tanner Burnett said following the Gladiators win as his acknowledge his players efforts to overcome some of their challenges throughout the night. "We didn't execute down the stretch how we hoped, but we found a way and that's what matters," Burnett said of his players and their performance in getting the win.