The devil gets his due in Dunwoody: Basketball rivalry goes into overtime
by Brian Egeston
be@brianwrites.com
Photo by Brian Egeston
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The clock: 6.6 seconds.
The score: 66-66.
Saturday evening at Dunwoody High, as a much-needed rain pounded the gymnasium roof, a booming thunder sounded. With a gang of sixes on the scoreboard, it seemed inevitable that the game would end badly for one team.
Someone forgot to tell Chamblee that Dunwoody has in it’s stable three Division I recruits on Delwan Graham who’s committed to Louisiana State and Chris Singleton and Pierre Jordan, who have committed to Florida Sate.
After the second quarter, the Bulldogs pulled away to a seven-point lead. Chamblee’s senior center Brandon O’Brien helped his team’s effort with eight points, including an offensive rebound slam that left the Wildcats watching. Dunwoody point guard Issiah Grayson bettered O’Brien, scoring nine points in the second quarter, but got little scoring help from his teammates before the halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Singleton got into foul trouble. Dunwoody head coach Scott Bracco benched his star forward for most of third quarter -- a chess move that would play out with great significance later in the game.
With Singleton out, Graham was left to battle the boards against a cast of Chamblee rebounders who love to pound the glass on both ends of the floor. Graham would also get into foul trouble late and it seemed probable that Chamblee was coming into enemy territory and was going to hand the Wildcats only their second loss of the season.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Chamblee lead had been cut to two. Singleton, Graham and Jordan were all on the floor. Singleton blocked three Chamblee shots on one possession. The aggressive defense, despite having four fouls, would set the tone for the remainder of the game.
Chamblee’s Chris Grier scored with 1:33 remaining for a 64-66 Bulldog lead, and the visitors would attempt to hold the ball until time expired. But for a team that as won back-to-back state championships, a minute on the clock with a two-point lead may as well be the first inbound of a pick-up game. A Jordan steal at half court ends in a Jordan basket tying the game.
A Chamblee possession heads down the floor. O’Brien missed the game winning shot and commits a frustration foul, which gave Dunwoody the ball. The clock stopped and filled up with luminous sixes. 6.6 seconds; 66-66. Jordan would dish the ball to Singleton who’s potential game- winning shot bounced off the front of the rim as time expired sending the game into overtime.
Chamblee would take a two-point lead in overtime, but a Wildcat defense would suffocate the challengers late in the extra quarter as they pulled away when Graham made four out of four free throws.
Singleton, the sleeping giant, awoke just in time to steal the ball at half court and end the game with a dunk, adding two more points to the overtime victory—78-72. A six-point margin, the devil is in the details.
“Chris Singleton and Delwan Grahm did a great job down the stretch,” said Bracco. “They played with four fouls pretty much the whole fourth quarter and did a great job on the defensive end. Any time Chamblee plays Dunwoody, you’re going to have a great game.”
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