In what could only be described as one of the most exciting, memorable games in recent memory, the DeKalb County Tigers’ basketball team battled a talented  28-6 Chattanooga Howard squad to the finish but fell 61-58 to end DeKalb’s season.
In front of a packed Chattanooga Howard Gymnasium, both squads electrified the crowd with some spectacular play.
The first period began with a bang as six-foot-eight Howard center Brandon Walters soared to the rim, dunking the basketball, putting his team ahead 2-1.
Settling down, DeKalb jumped out to a four-point lead. Howard and DeKalb traded leads, but at the end of the first period, DeKalb found themselves behind with the score 16-14.
The second period saw Howard jump out to a five-point lead, but at the 3:43 mark, DeKalb’s Sonni Fullilove hit a jump shot that gave his team a 22-21 lead. Moments later, a 7-0 run was capped by yet another dunk, this time by Howard’s Adjoe Young, that raised the roof.
After a DeKalb time out, Head Coach Lynus Martin settled down his squad then sent them on a 5-0 run to end the second period.
Trailing 28-27 to begin the third period, DeKalb came out of the locker room determined. Justin Bone put DeKalb back into the lead 29-28 to spark a rally by his teammates, which saw DeKalb outscore Howard 24-15 in the period to take a 51-43 lead.
However, Howard scored eight unanswered points. Since there is no shot clock in high school basketball, Howard proceeded to hold on to the ball for over two minutes.
At the 2:29 mark, DeKalb scored their first points of the final period. Braxton Atnip’s two points from the foul line put DeKalb ahead 53-52.
After Howard once again took the lead, DeKalb’s Sonni Fullilove hit a huge three-pointer to pull ahead 58-57.
Ten seconds later Howard’s Brandon Walters put his team back in front 59-58. Then on DeKalb’s ensuing possession, a highly contested missed shot under the goal by Braxton Atnip resulted in a foul that sent Howard’s Chris Walton to the foul line with just four seconds remaining.
After sinking both shots, Howard led by three points. However, DeKalb did have enough time to take a mid-court shot but as the basketball missed its mark, the buzzer sounded sending Howard’s crowd into a frenzy.
DeKalb’s Sonni Fullilove led all scorers with 25 points followed by Braxton Atnip who had 12. Ethan Roller tossed-in nine points as Justin Bone had eight while Lucas Phillips added four points for DeKalb.