The Pike Liberal Arts varsity boys basketball team knocked off the Northside Academy Knights 55-53 on Thursday night in Dothan.

The win for the Patriots improves their record on the season to 11-4 overall.

Two Patriot players finished in double figures, led by Drew Nelson. Nelson finished with a team-high 23 points, while Jade Sikes finished with 18. Cody Hollis had six points and Ty Singleton had five.

The Patriots were outscored in both quarters of the first half. In the first quarter, the Patriots were outscored 20-11. Nelson scored seven of his points in the first before the Patriots took a nine-point deficit into the second quarter.

The Patriots’ deficit continued to grow as the game moved into halftime. The The Patriots were again outscored, this time 19-15 and they went into the locker room at halftime trailing 39-26.

The Patriot defense clamped down in the second half. After allowing 39 points in the opening two quarters, the Patriots allowed just 14 in the second half.

The Patriots went into the fourth quarter trailing by nine at 45-36. Jade Sikes scored seven points in the quarter. Add in Nelson’s five and the Patriots were able to claim a comeback victory over the Knights.

The Lady Patriots fell to 9-10 on the season with their loss to the Knights.

The Lady Patriots had two players score in double figures led by Shelby Renfroe’s 18. Tanna Singleton finished with 10 points, while Ansley Adams had five.

The Patriots will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Montgomery to take on Success Unlimited.