WEST LIMESTONE — Tanner avenged a weekend loss to West Limestone with a 57-53 overtime win Monday in a battle of top five boys teams.

Tanner (5-1) trailed by as many as 13 points before storming back in the third quarter and eventually forcing overtime. On Saturday, West Limestone won, 47-44.

“We kind of lost momentum and Kobe Shoulders came in had the game of his life,” said Whitt. “We knew he could shoot like that, but he’s been struggling coming out football, trying to find it. But he was by far the difference in the ballgame. It’s huge to come over here and win. That’s says a lot about these guys. They really played hard.”

Shoulders came off the bench to score 10 of his 12 points in the second half and lead the Tanner comeback. After trailing 29-20 at halftime, Shoulders hit a 3-pointer as the third quarter came to a close to give Tanner its first lead since early in the game.

They traded leads in the fourth quarter, but some timely threes from Shoulders put Tanner up 48-47 with 1:30 remaining in regulation.

West Limestone answered with a patient possession that ended with a Matt Bozeman 3-pointer. In the final minute C.J. Yarbrough hit a pair of free throws to tie the game and send into overtime.

“We hit some shots tonight that we weren’t knocking down the other night,” said Whitt. “We finally got some open looks. We just weren’t shooting it well the other night. We got in too big of a hole. Tonight, we got behind in the first half, but we kept close enough. We made that little run that got us back even.”

Tanner grabbed an early lead in the overtime period and the third-ranked Rattlers did not relinquish it. Leading by a single point with less than a minute to play, Yarbrough made a nice cut through the lane and dished it to Javan Fletcher, who scored to put Tanner ahead 56-53.

West Limestone had one last chance to tie the game, but Yarbrough blocked Reed Blankenship’s 3-point attempt to end the game.

“Kobe making those shots gave us the chance to go into overtime,” said Whitt. “He was huge. Then C.J. getting that long arm in there is the kind of play that we’ve come to expect him to make.”

Yarbrough scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half and overtime. J.J. Johnson and Fletcher each chipped in 10 points.

Reed Blankenship scored a game-high 22 points for West (10-1) while Bozeman added 12.

Columbia 78, Athens 65

John Williams scored 22 points but it was not enough to keep up with Columbia Monday in a 78-65 loss. Chandler Leopard chipped in 15 points an Tyler Williams scored 10 for the Golden Eagles, which played Hartselle Tuesday.

Columbia’s Miguel Williams had 19 points to lead the Eagles.

Rogers 43, Ardmore 40

Ardmore lost a close game Monday, 43-40 to Rogers. Waymon Terry scored a team-high 13 points for Ardmore. Joseph Hughes led the Pirates with 15 points.

Varsity Girls

Tanner 55, West Limestone 44

Kirstin Brown poured in 35 points to lead Tanner to its second win over West in three days. The Rattlers trailed at halftime, but outscored West 19-5 in the third quarter, thanks to 11 points from Brown in the third. Jessika Milton scored 13 points for Tanner.

Caroline Bachus scored 17 points to lead West Limestone. On Saturday, Tanner beat the Wildcats 43-39.

Athens 70, Columbia 28

Alexis Woods scored a game-high 26 points for Athens in a blowout win over Columbia Monday. Jakayla Bridgeforth had 11 points while Barbara Anderson and Alaina Taylor both chipped in seven for Athens, which improved to 11-1.

Rogers 40, Ardmore 33

Ardmore led by five points entering the fourth, but could not hold off a late rally from Rogers, which left with a 40-33 victory Monday. Haley Patterson scored a team-high 10 points for Ardmore.