HIAWASSEE - It was a roller coaster ride for the Lakeview Academy boys basketball team Wednesday night in the opening round of the Region 8-A Tournament.
The Lions opened the game with a 21-8 run then blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead only to got some timely shooting in overtime to beat Athens Christian 61-58.
The win propels Lakeview (17-7) into the state tournament for the first time in its 33-year history. The Lady Lions qualified for the state tournament Tuesday for their first time ever.
"We're excited," Lakeview coach Richie Hughes said. "It's just about moving on at this point but we knew it was going to be tough."
Dustin Wellborn poured in 25 points to lead Lakeview, which will play Athens Academy Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals at Towns County High School.
The Lions lost to Athens Academy 37-27 during the regular season, their worst offensive output since Hughes took over four years ago.
The Lions were without Trey Wood, who leads the offense and is a key defensive stopper, who was sick, for big stretches of the game.
Lakeview had the game in control in the third quarter running out to a 20-point lead. But Athens Christian (14-12) whittled down the lead and then used a 6-1 run in the final 30 seconds to force the overtime.
"Without Trey our rotations changed a lot and quite frankly we just kind of worew down in the fourth quarter. We were just hanging on at the end," Hughes said.
It was a team effort in the overtime as three different players scored. But none were bigger than a 3-pointer to open the extra period by J.B. Little, his only points of the game.
The teams traded baskets before Lakeview took its final lead. The Eagles had the ball with 12 seconds left but a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
"J.B.'s shot was a big shot because it got us back in front and we could try to use our defense and then we did a great job on that last possession to deny them a good shot," Hughes said.
Athens Christian outscored Lakeview 17-7 in the fourth quarter and held the Lions to just 10 points over the final 11 minutes of regulation.
Tony Cash had 12 and Will Crumley added 10 for the Lions.
Ryan Murphy, who scored 27 points to lead the Eagles, had a four-point play and two free throws with 4.1 seconds left in regulation.
Sunday
July 6th, 2025
1:03PM
