On Thursday afternoon, the Cornersville Bulldogs (2-6) put a scare into Page, but were unable to finish the deal, as CHS dropped a hard fought 72-64 decision to the Patriots at the Community Christmas Classic.

The Bulldogs appeared to have Page (5-6) on the ropes after taking a 55-52 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Cornersville faltered down the stretch while the Patriots outscored CHS 20-9 over the final 6:48 to pull out the eight-point win.

Too many points

"Our effort was better and we competed, but we just have to learn how to finish games," said Cornersville coach Gerard Randolph. "I thought we did some nice things offensively, but we didn't play well enough defensively. You can't give up 72 points and expect to win."

The Bulldogs shot a blistering 57 percent (21-of-37) through the first three quarters of play, but missed all 11 field goal attempts during the pivotal fourth period to finish 21-of-48 from the floor overall, which included a 2-of-8 effort from three-point range.

Tate Lowery was CHS' main offensive catalyst and poured in a game high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Jamie Crowell followed Tate Lowery with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Wes Meadows and Tyler Lowery tallied eight points apiece. Brian Lowe also added six points for the Bulldogs and David Looney had one point.

Powerful Page

Cornersville was never able to slow down Page's offensive attack, as the Patriots finished with 26 field goals on 50 percent shooting and knocked down 6-of-18 attempts from beyond the arc. CHS did hold a 12-11 edge on the offensive glass, but Page outrebounded the Bulldogs 30-27 overall.

Christian Denton paced three Patriot players in double figures with 19 points, while Dylan White and Matt O'Toole each added 12 points. Stewart Ringstaff notched eight points as well and Garrett Sharp tallied seven points. Michael Magochy and Lucas Cramer also chipped in six points apiece for Page, while Tristan Haney had two points.

The Patriots inched out to an early 8-6 lead before the Bulldogs put together an 11-5 run behind five points from Tate Lowery and four points from Crowell to grab a 17-13 advantage midway through the quarter.

Page notched six of the next eight points to pull ahead 19-17 late in the first period, but Cornersville responded with an 8-2 spurt, highlighted by a three-point play and a trey from Meadows, to seize a 25-21 lead early in the second quarter.

Close contest

After the Patriots outscored CHS 12-7 over the final six minutes of the half to take a 33-32 advantage into the break, the Bulldogs tallied five of the first seven points in the third quarter thanks to a Crowell free throw, a fade away jumper by Lowe, and a Tyler Lowery layup to grab a 37-35 lead.

Page rattled off six straight points to claim a 41-37 advantage, before Cornersville went on a 14-8 run with the help of seven points from Lowery and three points from Crowell to seize a 51-49 lead late in the third period.

Cramer converted a three-point play to give Page a 52-51 advantage, but Lowery buried a trey in the waning seconds of the third quarter before Crowell made one-of-two free throws at the start of the fourth to put CHS up 55-52.

The Bulldogs, however, began too cool off after that, as the Patriots used a 14-5 spurt to grab a 66-60 lead with 2:10 left.

Lowery hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 66-62, but Page outscored Cornersville 6-2 the rest of the way to seal their 72-64 victory.