A winner in regulation? Nope.

A winner after the first overtime? Not a chance.

In what could be easily viewed as an instant classic, the Creekside Seminoles defeated the McIntosh Chiefs 83-80 in a double-overtime contest between two Region 2-AAAA teams Friday night in Peachtree City.

Heading into Friday's game, the last two meetings between the Chiefs and Seminoles on the basketball court were close.

McIntosh defeated Creekside in the Region 2-AAAA tournament at home, 54-47, last season to secure a spot in the state playoffs for the first time in school history. And in their first meeting this season, Creekside barely edged McIntosh at home, 53-52.

The rematch was yet another thriller, one that both teams needed to win to possibly make a move in the region standings.

Currently occupying third place in the region, Creekside (15-7, 11-4 region) gave itself a little more breathing room in the standings with the win and set back McIntosh (11-8, 7-7), which is sitting in fourth place.

McIntosh’s girls won the early game, 42-40 over Creekside, for their fourth straight victory.

The Lady Chiefs’ victory improved their overall record to 10-9 and region record to 6-8, good for fifth place in the region.

The boys game featured Creekside's star shooting guard-small forward, Kevin Murphy, who displayed his immense skills in overtime, in which he torched McIntosh for 18 of his game-high 35 points, including nine in the second overtime. His deft shooting, particularly from the perimeter, was exactly what Creekside needed against McIntosh’s 2-3 zone defense, which has gotten markedly better each week in the second half of the season.

As potent as Murphy was, the deciding factor was McIntosh’s inability to be proficient from the free throw line, where it went 17-of-32. McIntosh perhaps could have won the game in regulation at the free throw line, but it missed six free throws in one possession with 1:21 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Free throws killed us,” McIntosh coach Jason Eisele said. “Normally, we shoot a good percentage from the free throw line. That’s unfortunate for us. I liked the way we played and kept fighting back each time we got down.”

McIntosh has utilized its frontcourt size in each of its victories this season. Small forward Jeremy Lampkin, who scored a team-high 22 points, including 11 in overtime, and power forward Patrick Michel, who scored 12 points, were able to do damage, but Creekside’s intense man-to-man defense shut down one of McIntosh’s biggest weapons, center Robert Chubb, who was held to under double digits (eight points).

“Hats off to [Creekside] coach [Brett] Lewis for a good game plan,” Eisele said. “They took away our big guys in the second half.”

Down by as many as six with three minutes left in regulation, McIntosh was reeling, but it came back and pulled within one (55-54) on a layup from Chubb. After a one-minute span in which it missed six free throws, McIntosh took a 56-55 lead on a free throw each from Michel and Michael Chisholm, whose shot followed a technical foul called against Lewis for openly disagreeing with a referee's call.

Isaac Woodley, who finished with 10 points, increased McIntosh’s lead to 58-55 with two free throws with 48.6 seconds left, but Murphy came back down the court and drilled a game-tying, off-balance 3-pointer.

Following a timeout called by Eisele, McIntosh had 11.2 seconds to work for a final shot, but it turned the ball over.

Malcolm Penn drove the ball into the lane on Creekside’s ensuing possession and attempted to put up a layup, but Chubb blocked his shot with 1.7 seconds remaining.

McIntosh had one last chance to win in regulation, but Cameron Rich’s off-balance, court-length, left-handed heave fell shot short of the front of the basket, sending the game into overtime with the teams deadlocked at 58.

Murphy got hot in the first overtime, scoring Creekside’s first nine points. After Murphy’s second basket in overtime, a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc, McIntosh stayed within at least three until there were 30 seconds left.

Lampkin drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to cut Creekside’s lead to one. And, after Penn sank one of two free throws, Lampkin took the ball again, drove into the lane, drawing a crowd of defenders, and dished the ball to Chubb, who threw down a game-tying, two-handed dunk just before the first overtime concluded.

Creekside opened the second overtime by scoring six consecutive points, with Penn scoring four — both baskets came on layups — to take a 76-70 lead.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Lampkin and Woodley tied the game at 76, but Creekside came right back down the court and put the ball in the hands of Murphy, who delivered yet another big shot, a 3-pointer that gave the Seminoles a 79-76 lead.

Another 3-pointer by Lampkin, coming with 37 seconds to go, pulled the Chiefs within one (81-80), but Murphy sealed Creekside’s victory with two free throws 10 seconds later. Murphy was almost perfect from the free throw line, going 9-for-10.

McIntosh had one final opportunity to send the game into a third overtime, but Lampkin’s off-balance 3-pointer hit nothing but air.

The game was close throughout the first half — Creekside held the biggest lead, seven, in the second quarter — as both teams had trouble scoring in the second quarter, with McIntosh dropping in only eight points and Creekside 10. The Seminoles led by three at halftime, 26-23.

Creekside had three players score in double figures: Murphy, Penn (20 points) and Courtney Miller (10).

McIntosh’s Erin Justice made her presence felt early in the girls game, scoring six of her team’s eight points in the first quarter and four in the second quarter. She finished with a game-high 18 points.

Justice’s aggressive play underneath the basket was the primary reason the Lady Chiefs led 23-19 at halftime.

“Erin was strong tonight from the beginning until the end,” McIntosh coach David Dowse said. “We didn’t shoot the ball from the perimeter like we did against Whitewater [a 54-37 victory] last week, so we needed someone to step up inside.”

Jasmine Williams put on some offensive fireworks of her won in the third quarter, scoring eight points, including four in the final two minutes, to tie the game at 29.

Justice sank two free throws and made a layup to put McIntosh back in front 33-29 to begin the fourth quarter. Two free throws by Kayla Ramsby, a layup by Williams and a free throw by Ashley Smith gave the Lady Seminoles a 34-33 lead.

McIntosh responded with six straight points — a 3-pointer by Laura Higgason, a layup by Morgan McCrory and a free throw by Danette Hinton — to pull ahead 39-34.

Creekside answered with six consecutive points — back-to-back three-point plays by Ramsby — to grab a one-point lead, its first of the game.

Justice fought off two defenders to grab an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to regain the lead for the Lady Chiefs (41-40) with 51.2 seconds remaining.

Justice had a chance to expand McIntosh’s lead with 13.3 seconds left, dribbling into the lane and drawing a foul, but she missed the first shot in a one-and-one opportunity. Higgason gave McIntosh another chance to add to its lead, grabbing Justice’s missed shot and drawing another foul.

Higgason hit the first of two free throws to make it a two-point game.

Then McCrory swiped the ball from Creekside (12-10, 6-9 region) in the final seconds to close out the victory.

Besides Justice, Higgason scored in double figures for McIntosh, finishing with 10 points.

Ramsby scored 12 points and Williams had 11 to lead Creekside.

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