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The Pike Liberal Arts varsity girls and boys basketball teams knocked off Macon-East on Monday night.

The varsity Patriots boys basketball team won a contested game, 72-63.

The Patriot boys scored 31 points in the first half, and 41 points in the second half. They fell behind Macon East 4-12 early in the first quarter, but soon found their rhythm offensively about halfway through the second quarter. The final two quarters were a shootout, as both teams were in a rhythm and soon found their marks consistently from beyond the 3-point line. The Patriots went on an 18-10 run to extend their lead and take control of the game with an insurmountable lead with about two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

In total, seven different Patriots scored during the night. Javon Christian led the Patriots in scoring with 19 points behind four 3-points shots. Drew Nelson and Jay Taylor both had strong nights with 15 points each, with all of Nelson’s points coming from beyond the three-point line. Austin Cross finished the night with 13 points. Mario Davenport scored four points, while Payne Jeffcoat and Jeff Knotts finished with two points each.

Head Coach Matt Brown was proud of his team’s long-range shooting on the night.

“That’s what we do, we are a team that plays from the outside in,” said Coach Brown. “We have a lot of good shooters on our team, and those guys hitting their shots as much as they did definitely helps our game.”

Mistakes cost the Patriots early, and Coach Brown talked about how his team’s over eagerness to play Macon East again worked against them.

“We’ve got to focus in more, we came in a little too hype,” said Coach Brown. “We played this team a week and a half ago and lost in our first game in overtime, so we were a little too excited to play in this game, and that’s what hurt us.”

The varsity Patriot boys will be back in action on Tuesday night when they play Crenshaw Christian Academy at home in Troy in the second of a three-game stretch played over four days.

Lady Patriots 40, Macon-East 29

The Lady Patriots remained over .500 with their 11-point over the Knights on Monday night.

The win for the Patriots improves their record on the season to 3-1.

Seven different Patriots scored on Monday led by senior Tiffany Johnson, who finished with 11 points. Johnson added three rebounds and two assists. Amity White and Lakin Harrell each had nine points and Mikalah Griffin had five to go along with seven rebounds. White finished with six rebounds and Harrell had five.

The Patriots will be back in action on Tuesday when they remain home to take on CCA.