If you like edge of your seat play, then the DeKalb County High School Tigers basketball team’s games were right up your alley last week. The team would be involved in not one, but two barn-burners that would be decided in the last seconds of play. Both games were against tough opponents, with one pitting them against a former DCHS basketball coach. 

On Tuesday, November 22, the Tigers were on the road, traveling to Woodbury to take on the Cannon County Lions. It would be a close game throughout. 

The Tigers scored 19 points in the first period, with Elishah Ramos and Conner Close each sinking a three and two-point basket, while Robert Wheeler added a pair of two-pointers. Stetson Agee hit on a two-pointer, while Zack Birmingham had a three-point shot. Cannon was held to 14 points, giving DeKalb the early lead. 

Agee had a two-pointer and three free throw points for the Tigers in the second period, while Wheeler and Close each had a two-point shot of their own. Ramos added a free throw to the scoreboard. The Lions came away with 12 points, giving DeKalb a narrow 29-26 halftime lead. 

Both teams came away with nine points in the third period. Agee sank a two and three-point shot, while Ramos and Close each had a two-pointer. The Tigers held on to a 38-35 lead. 

It would come down to the fourth period, and the Lions began to close the gap. DeKalb was held to just four points, all from Wheeler with a two-pointer and a pair of free throws. Cannon would put nine on the board, scoring the winning basket with just seconds on the clock. The Tigers would suffer their first loss of the season, 44-42. 

Agee was the top scorer for the Tigers with 12 points in the game, while Wheeler had 10. Close had nine points, Ramos eight and Birmingham had three. 

The following Friday, the Tigers would be on their home court where they would face another tough opponent in the Warren County Pioneers. It would be the first meeting between DeKalb County and its former girls basketball coach Danny Fish, who left the Lady Tigers last summer to assume head coaching duties for the Pioneers. 

The Tigers would jump out with the lead in the first period, but the Pioneers would slowly creep back into the game in the second. 

DeKalb scored 23 points in the first period, with Zack Birmingham sinking a couple of two-pointers, a three-pointer, and a pair of free throws, while Conner Close added two-two-point baskets, and three-pointer, and one free-throw point. Stetson Agee had a three-pointer of his own, while Alex Antoniak had a free-throw shot. The Pioneers were held to just 12 points. 

The game would flip in the second period, with the Pioneers outscoring DeKalb. The Tigers were held to 13 points, with Close hitting on a three-pointer, two two-point baskets, and a couple of free throws. Elisha Ramos and Ean Jones each added a couple of free-throw points. Warren came away with 21 points, cutting DeKalb’s lead 36-33 at the half. 

The Pioneers surged ahead for the lead in the third period, holding the Tigers to just 10 points. Agee had a two-pointer and a couple of free-throw points, while Birmingham, Close and Antoniak each had a two-point basket. Warren County put 15 on the board, taking the 48-46 lead. 

Once again, the battle would be decided in the final moments of the game. The Tigers would catch fire, with Close hitting on three two-point baskets and three free throws, while Ramos added a pair of two-pointers and three free-throw points. Birmingham sank a three-pointer, Agee added a couple of free throws, and Antoniak had one free-throw point. Defensively, the Pioneers were held to 18 points, giving DeKalb the 68-66 victory. 

Close was the top scorer for the Tigers with 28 points. Birmingham had 14, Ramos 11, Agee had nine, Antoniak four, and Jones had two points.