Last Friday night, your Academic Magnet Raptors traveled to Bishop England. It was the Bishops’ senior night and they were looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Raptors.

Despite all the motivation and importance of the game, Bishop England struggled mightily from the field in the first half, shooting just 26% from the field and 0-13 from the 3-point line. The Bishops had just a mere 14 points at the half, and trailed by 9.

However, B.E. came out of halftime shooting the ball as they expect to, and went on a 14-4 run halfway through the third quarter to take a 35-29 lead. However, the Raptor deficit never got larger than that margin, as Magnet battled back in the fourth quarter and even had a 49-48 lead with 20 seconds left. After Bryson Rose got a fortunate bounce off the rim for a three, and guard Myles Myers forced a turnover on the ensuing possession, a Raptor victory seemed ever so close. Bishop England fouled Myers, sending him to the free throw line for 2 shots with just 13 seconds remaining. But Myers missed both, and the lead remained at 1 point. Senior forward Keb Mosley-Kellum fouled Bishop forward Leo Albano, sending the sophomore to the line with a chance to win the game. After Albano left the first short, the best B.E. could hope for was to send the game to overtime. And that’s just what happened; Albano converted his second free throw, and the Raptors failed to get a shot off as time expired in regulation.

In overtime, without center Alex Pastis, the Raptors struggled, and Bishop England had a 55-51 lead with just over 2 minutes remaining. But the Raptors responded and tied the game with 30 seconds remaining after another clutch Bryson Rose three pointer. On the ensuing possession, Myers fouled Ben Quinque and he knocked down both free throws, leaving the Raptors down 2 with just 4 seconds left. After a Magnet timeout, the Raptors drew up the final play, and junior guard Ethan Linhart received the inbound pass, blew past all the Bishop defenders, and found himself with a clear path to the hoop. But Linhart lost control of the ball right before he went up for the layup, and the clock hit double zeros to secure a Bishops victory.

However, despite the loss, Battery Creek dropped one at Garrett on the Falcons’ senior night, so the Raptors and the Dolphins were still in a tie for first place heading into the final region game. Your Raptors hosted Garrett, and Battery Creek traveled to region rival Whale Branch.

The visiting Falcons came out from the opening tip on Tuesday night and hung around with your region leading Raptors, and the game was level at 16 apiece after the first quarter. But the Raptor defense put the clamps on Garrett in the second quarter, holding them to just 6 points, and Magnet had a 29-22 lead heading into the break. Garrett kept it close the whole way, but the Raptors proved to be too much for the visiting Falcons, as they ended up cruising to a 62-49 victory.

The Raptors were primarily led by the sophomore duo of Myles Myers and Bryson Rose. Myers filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals, while his fellow backcourt guard Rose totaled 22 points including 6 threes.

The Raptors, now 17-6 (8-2), travel to Whale Branch High School and take on Battery Creek in a tiebreaker game to determine the #1 seed in AA Region VI on Friday night at 7. This one promises to be a great one as the away team won both times in their previous meetings this year. That being said, this game will probably feel like an away one for your Raptors, so they need all the support they can get. Come on out and fill up the Whale Branch gym, which shouldn’t be too difficult, to watch Magnet fight for their first ever region title.