The Raiders caught some magic in the fourth quarter, going off for 26 points to shock White County in a 64-56 final Friday night in Mt. Airy. JoJo McCurry, Brighton Paul, and Bryce Pittman combined for 51 points as Habersham overcame a 6-point deficit going into the final period.

Both teams traded buckets in the first, as White County (3-4) used 7 first-quarter points by Jadon Yeh to take a 13-11 lead. McCurry kept the Raiders (5-1) close with 6 points of his own. In the second, the Warriors weathered a run by Hab Central in which Paul hit a deep three, followed by back-to-back baskets by McCurry. Yeh had his own back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within a point, and his free throw moments later tied the game at 26 apiece, which held to the break.

Yeh led all scorers with 13 first-half points, though McCurry was already at 10 points at the break as well. The Warriors pulled ahead 44-38 with a third quarter in which White County edged Habersham 18-12. Noah Futch had consecutive shots for the Warriors, and all of Futch’s 8 points came in the second half.

The Raiders saved their best play for last. Pittman notched a layup to get within 46-45, and McCurry had 4 straight points followed by a jumper by Paul that gave the Raiders a quick 51-48 lead. Habersham Central went up by 7 before White County pulled back on Braxton Anderson’s 3-point play, and the game was tied at 56 apiece with 2:15 on the clock.

Paul then hit a huge shot from beyond the arc with 52 seconds remaining, and with about 30 seconds left his layup was the final dagger that stretched the lead to 4. Pittman had a breakaway dunk as time expired.

Yeh finished with a game-high 23 points, while Futch had 8, Anderson 7, Tripp Nix 6, David Boman and Dawson Bailey had 3 apiece, and Dawson Oliver finished with 2 for the Warriors. The Raiders we led by McCurry’s 21 points, and both Pittman and Paul had 15. Justus Gober had 5 points, and Cole Gary and Enzo Combs had 3 apiece, with Jayden Arria scoring 2 to round it out. Brannon Gaines didn’t score, but played unbelievably well on defense and in orchestrating offense with precision passing. The Raiders improve to 5-1, while the Warriors are now 3-4 on the season.