This wasn't the game Dr. James Naismith fostered out of peach baskets.

It wasn't technical brilliance with crisp passes or smooth offensive wizardry, pump fakes and post moves. It wasn't even the scoring spree expected when Swainsboro star Tony Mitchell came to Augusta to face Josey.

But this was still basketball in every sense of the word.

Josey came back from an early deficit to force a back-and-forth affair that stretched into overtime. The Eagles forged a proud 67-62 win largely because of their competitive will and a sense of pride that had been shaken in an earlier meeting with the Tigers.

Swainsboro handed the Eagles one of their two losses this season -- a 72-57 thumping on Jan. 11. Mitchell scored 35 points in that meeting. That was not forgotten as the Swainsboro bus made the trip to Josey for Tuesday's game.

"You could say that Swainsboro had the superstar, and we had the team," Josey senior Patrick Meyers said. "Everybody knows Tony is going to score and he's a good player and he will get his. But he scored 35 points on us last time. That wasn't going to happen tonight. I went to the team today and sat everybody down and said Tony Mitchell was not going to get 35 points against us in our gym tonight."

Meyers credited Matthew Favors with a fine job of stifling the Alabama-bound Mitchell. Josey coach Shawn Parks credited just about everyone on his roster, his coaching staff and even the women in the concessions stand who buttered everyone's popcorn.

"People just don't understand Josey pride and the pride we have in representing the 15th Street area in basketball," Josey coach Shawn Parks said. "These guys play with so much heart. That's the one constant we have every night is our intensity."

Credit should start with another unrelenting effort from Meyers. He had 21 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and four assists. William Hawes also had 15 for the Eagles.

Swainsboro had four players reach double figures. Michael Tann led the team with his 18 points. Mitchell finished with 13 points.

The first half was a paradox. Swainsboro (10-8, 7-3 in Region 3-AA) made 16 of its 23 shots. Josey made 13 of 32. Yet, the Tigers led by only one, 33-32, at the half.

Swainsboro had a terrible time protecting the basketball. The Tigers had 16 of their 35 turnovers in the first half. Josey had problems scoring, but no problems setting up its offense and running the floor.

"I'd rather be the team that has trouble scoring that protects the basketball than the team that is shooting the lights out but has trouble protecting the basketball," Swainsboro coach Leroy Jordan said.