The Pleasant Home Eagles picked up a pair of big area wins over Houston County on Friday night in Pleasant Home.

BOYS

PLEASANT HOME 78, HOUSTON COUNTY 76

In the final game of the evening, the Eagles battled back to knock off Houston County 78-76 in double-overtime.

“We just kept on playing tonight,” Pleasant Home head coach Troy Turman said. “There is so much untapped potential that we have on this team, but we have been struggling to find ways to win close games. Tonight was a great win for us against a very good opponent. I’m so proud of our guys.”

The Eagles started the game off strong in the first period with a couple of buckets from Hunter Ward and a 3-pointer from Robert Scott to put Pleasant Home on top 17-16 heading into the second period.

Houston County got rolling in the second period and took a 34-28 lead into halftime.

Aaron Warthen entered the game in the second half and helped spark the Eagles offense with several strong drives to basket.

Despite Warthen and the Eagles’ efforts in the third period, Houston County was up 55-44 heading into the final period of regulation.

Warthen got things going with a nice layup under the basket off of an assist from Rico Bovino.

Scott inched the Eagles back into the ballgame when he buried a 3-pointer from the corner after finding himself all alone on the inbound pass from Bovino to cut the Houston County lead to 62-60 with just over two minutes left in regulation.

Moments later, Scott got a steal near half court and drew a foul on his way to the basket.

Scott hit 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 62-61.

Warthen then tied the game a few minutes later with a layup to send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, both teams played strong on defense to limit the scoring and send the game into a second overtime.

Pleasant Home took a lead early in the period when Warthen drove the length of the floor and put in a layup to put the Eagles up 72-70.

Pleasant Home grabbed a 76-73 lead as the time ticked closer to zero, but Houston County got a big 3-pointer to tie the game 76-76 with 5.4 seconds remaining on the clock.

With the clock winding down, the Eagles pushed the ball up the floor and threw up a shot from the corner. The ball missed the mark, but Warthen secured the rebound and put the ball right back up for the buzzer-beating win.

Several players for the Eagles had a big night, but none better than senior Warthen.

After not scoring in the opening half, Warthen finished as the Eagles’ leading scorer with 26 points.

“I’m so proud of the way our four seniors played tonight, especially Aaron Warthen,” Turman said. “He had the game of his life tonight. He came up to me just before the fourth quarter and said, ‘Coach, if you put me in I will score.’ That’s the kind of attitude you want to have on your team. I’m just so proud of these guys tonight. That was a great team win.”

Scott ended the night with 24 points in the win.

Tyler Myrick finished the game with 10 points for the Eagles.

With the win, the Eagles move to 2-0 in Class 1A, Area 2 play.

GIRLS

PLEASANT HOME 54, HOUSTON COUNTY 29

The Pleasant Home Lady Eagles scored early and often as they cruised to a 54-29 area-victory over Houston County on Friday night.

“It was a good game for us tonight,” Lady Eagles’ head coach Jerry Davis said. “We got to play everybody tonight, and that is always a good thing. Tonight, we tried a few new things and it didn’t look bad. I felt like we moved the ball around well and we weren’t totally dependent on River (Baldwin). River still got hers, but we had other girls that contributed as well. I’m happy with the way we played and I thought we did a good job for slowing them down and taking away the passing lanes.”

Baldwin and the Lady Eagles came storming out of the gate and were on top 23-6 after one period of play.

The Lady Eagles continued to pour it on in the second period, and held a 41-15 lead at halftime.

Baldwin finished the first half with 26 points to pace the Lady Eagles.

In the second half, the Lady Eagles got strong minutes from their bench players to help seal the victory.

Baldwin finished the game with 31 points, 17 rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three assists.

Hope Gunter finished the night with 8 points.

With the victory, the Lady Eagles improve their area record to 2-0.