THOMASTON &8212; On the surface Thursday evening, a big, veteran A.L. Johnson team played host to a smaller Marengo High School group trying to rebound from a Tuesday loss at John Essex High School. Underneath the seemingly clear surface, the game&8217;s outcome was clouded by the fact that both teams knew none of that mattered at tip off in one of the biggest rivalry games for both schools.

In the end, the A.L. Johnson Eagles came out on top 52-39, but not until after a hard fought battle.

In fact, the undersized Marengo team covered tight on their bigger adversaries &8212; cutting the Eagles size advantage in the process. At the end of a highly physical first quarter, A.L. Johnson lead but only by two, at 10-8.

In the second quarter4 the Eagles against overcame the tight, physical coverage to extend their lead to six, at 25-19. They added another point to their cushion after coming out of the half in the third quarter, entering the fourth 36-29.

In the fourth, though, the Eagles hit their stride and put up 16 points, while holding the Panthers to only 10. Jones said his group, following the game will have to work on their free-throw work as well as covering the baseline.

Leading scorers for the Eagles in the game were Courtney Peterson, with 13, and Kejuan McGhee, with 12. Leading scorer for the Panthers was James Bennett, who scored almost half of his team&8217;s points with 19.