HOLLY POND — It didn’t look good at times for the Broncos on Friday night. 

Facing a double-digit deficit in the third quarter, Holly Pond’s varsity boys found themselves needing to flip momentum in a hurry against Decatur Heritage. 

So, with a championship on the line, that’s exactly what the Green and White did. 

Kollin Brown totaled a team-high 21 points, Blake Rickard secured 12, and the No. 3 Broncos stormed past the sixth-ranked Eagles inside Felton Easterwood Gymnasium to earn a 54-49 victory in the Class 2A, Area 13 Tournament title game.

Holly Pond (24-5) trailed 19-17 following a physical first half, but Decatur Heritage quickly surged ahead 36-23 thanks in large part to Brady Wilson, who drilled five 3-pointers in the third period to help the road team seize a double-digit advantage.

The Broncos, though, clawed their way back and trailed 39-34 entering the fourth quarter before two free throws by Brown — the junior guard was 11 of 11 at the charity stripe while the team was 16 of 17 overall — and a 3-pointer by Sawyer Olinger tied it up.

From there, it was a heavyweight battle.

The teams exchanged leads multiple times down the stretch, with Holly Pond ultimately able to craft a 50-45 advantage following a Gunnar McBee swipe that led to a Brown bucket with 44.5 seconds remaining.

And though the Eagles make it tough the rest of the way, the Broncos used their clutch makes at the free-throw line to pull out the win.

While coach Cory Glasscock made a few adjustments in the second half, he credited his team for coming through when it mattered most.

“We went small and sped the game up, but this group of guys — tough, gritty, refuse to quit,” he said. “They don’t pay attention to what’s going on around them. Whether they’re up 13 or down 13, they just put their heads down and work. This win sums up this group of kids, and I could not be more happy for them.”

Olinger scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, while Christian Couch (six), McBee (four) and Diego Garcia (three) each pitched in baskets.

Holly Pond will host No. 7 Tanner in the sub-regional round on Tuesday.

See below for more local roundup.

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Varsity Boys

Class 1A, Area 13 Tournament

Meek 71, Addison 64

*Addison (16-13) at Marion County in sub-regionals

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Class 4A, Area 11 Tournament

Etowah 94, Hanceville 66

Brayden Harris: 20 points

Will Calvert: 12 points

Konnor Helms: 10 points

*Hanceville (24-7) at DAR in sub-regionals