It was a showdown 16 days in the making.

The Alpharetta and Roswell girl's basketball teams were originally scheduled to play on Jan. 11, but due to snowmageddon, the game was moved to Thursday night. And the stakes couldn't have been higher.

The Lady Hornets came into the match-up at the top of Region 6-AAAAA with a record of 7-0. The Lady Raiders were right behind them at 6-0. After last night thought, there's a new team at the top of the standings.

In a wild game, Roswell fought back from nine points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime. However, the Lady Raiders would dominate the extra period – outscoring Roswell 14-2 – to earn a 56-44 win. Alpharetta's Delaney Hollenbeck came within one block of a triple-double. The Raider junior finished the night with 16 points, 14 boards and nine blocks.

"Ever since the snow, we've looked forward to playing them," Alpharetta coach Angela Hurt said of Roswell. "I felt like we had a chance to win, but it was going to take us having a good game and we had one."

After a Hollenbeck bucket with six minutes left in the game put Alpharetta up 40-31, it looked like the fat lady was going to start singing for Roswell. Instead though, the Lady Hornets went on an 11-2 run to end the game while holding Alpharetta without a field goal over the game's final six minutes (The Lady Raider's two points came on free throws). Roswell's Shanteona Keys scored seven of the Lady Hornet's 11 points during the pivotal run.

With Roswell up 42-41 and only 17 seconds left, Alpharetta star Kylee Smith had a chance to put her team in the lead with two made free throws. However, the 84 percent FT shooter was only able to hit 1-of-2, sending the game to overtime.

The extra period was all Alpharetta, specifically Hollenbeck. The 6-foot-4 junior –playing with four fouls -- had two blocks and scored six of Alpharetta's 14 overtime points.

Alpharetta's 14 points in overtime were impressive, considering the Lady Raiders only scored 14 in the entire first half.

"I didn't feel like we were being aggressive [in the first half], I felt like we were being really hesitant," Hurt said after the game. "When we came out in the third quarter, you could see Kylee going more to the basket, Lauren going more to the basket, they were being a lot more aggressive. I think that's where the turnaround happened."

Roswell led 17-14 at the break, but 13 third quarter points by Smith propelled Alpharetta to a 36-28 lead after three quarters. Smith finished her night with a game-high 24 points.

Alpharetta's Lauren Brown also had a big night, the sophomore scored 12 points and dished out five assists. Alpharetta's big three of Smith, Hollenbeck and Brown combined to score 52 of the team's 56 total points.

On the Roswell side, Keys led her team in the scoring department with 18 points. Shelby Barker, who chipped in seven and Andreona Keys, who added six, trailed her.

Roswell (15-5, 8-1) will be back in action on Tuesday when they play host to Centennial. The Lady Raiders (17-2, 7-0) will continue the gauntlet portion of their schedule. Besides Roswell, Alpharetta played Milton last night, they play Northview Tuesday and then they turnaround and play Roswell again this Friday. A 3-1 showing in that stretch might be enough to earn the Lady Raiders a No. 1 seed going for February's region tournament.

Roswell Wins as Boys Game Goes OT Too

After the girls game went to overtime Thursday at Roswell, the boys must have decided they had to one-up their female counterparts. And they did. In an overtime thriller, the Hornets upset region No. 2 Alpharetta 70-66.

The excitement started with 10 seconds left in the game and Roswell leading 60-57. After Alpharetta missed a potentially game-tying shot, there was a wild scramble for the rebound.

Somehow the rock ended up in the hands of Alpharetta's Mikal Abdul-Saboor, who was a good 19 feet from the basket. Saboor then banked in an improbable 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Thanks to three points apiece from Davian Jones and Earl Hill, Alpharetta jumped out to a quick 66-62 lead in the OT session, unfortunately for the Raiders though, they wouldn't score again. Roswell reeled off eight straight points to end the game – including four by senior Tyrone Hayes – to claim the 70-66 win

Roswell's Taylor Birchett led all-scorers in the game with 25 points, including 10 in the third quarter. Teammate Thomas Williams added 19 while sophomore Sean Brennan chipped in 10.

For Alpharetta, DJ Suter was the star of the game. The senior scored 22 points and hauled in six boards. Earl Hill also had a big game for the Raiders, the senior recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Raiders (14-5, 5-2) will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Northview. Roswell (10-9, 5-3), who only trails second place Alpharetta and Centennial by one game, hosts the Knights on Tuesday.