In a battle of two schools that call themselves the Warriors, the one in silver and black came up victorious in a game that went down to the wire. North Atlanta beat KIPP Collegiate on Tuesday by a score of 57 to 54. Like in their victory over Campbell, this was by no means an easy one for the Dubs. They fell behind early, with KIPP scoring 11 of the game’s first 13 points. KIPP was scorching North Atlanta from the outside, and a pair of jumpers from Jalen Pugh and Niles Washington put KIPP up. Meanwhile, the Warriors were struggling to find open shots, and when they did they couldn’t capitalize. However, this all changed in a flash, as the Warriors suddenly got hot, all while keeping KIPP’s shooters at bay, and they ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run to make the score 13-13 after one. 

North Atlanta carried much of this momentum into the second quarter, and by the end of the first half they had the lead, with a 30 to 28 advantage at halftime. The Dubs were getting settled offensively and the three pointers that KIPP had shot so well in the early minutes simply weren’t dropping as much anymore. The Dubs continued to hold the lead through the third quarter and at the start of the final period they found themselves up by four points. 

KIPP was far from done, however, and they began to strike back at North Atlanta in the fourth quarter, taking a 47 to 46 lead with five minutes left to play. After a few minutes of no scoring from either team, T.J. Lewis buried a massive three for North Atlanta with 3 minutes left. KIPP tied it back up and the score was knotted up at 49-49 in the final moments. This is where Charlie Hamilton took over the game. He made his defender look silly on wild stepback three that if you flip to ESPN you might see out of James Harden. On the next possession, he lost his man again on a sweet backdoor cut that yielded an easy layup off the feed from K’hamani Oliviacce. Then, he stole a pass on defense and took it back for a one-hand jam. After his 7 straight points the score stood at 56-49 North Atlanta, and the game was finished after some points from KIPP to provide the window dressing. 

The Dubs were led by Charlie Hamilton who finished his night with 19 points and 4 rebounds, and Tyson Motton who had 13 points and 5 assists. K’hamani Oliviacce led the team in assists with 6, and Montavious Myrick was North Atlanta’s leading rebounder with 6 as well. It was another great win for North Atlanta, who continues to show that they can really turn it up when they need to. The Warriors improved to 3-1 with the win, and are primed to build off of this strong start to the season.