It was only fitting that a game as wild and intense as the matchup between the Sequoyah Chiefs and Sweetwater Wildcats would take extra time to determine a winner.
When the dust finally settled on Thursday night, it was the Wildcats that owned an overtime victory over the archrival Chiefs as Sweetwater claimed the 76-73 overtime win.

It was the second time in six days the Wildcats topped a county rival in overtime as they defeated Tellico Plains 66-65 on Dec. 11.
Sweetwater's Corey Billingsley continued his strong play to begin the season as the junior scored 35 points in the game.

Sequoyah's Tevin West was equally impressive, leading Sequoyah in scoring with 23 points despite sitting out the entire first half of the game.
The game was close throughout, as neither team was ever more than 10 points ahead.
The teams traded buckets to start the game as Sequoyah jumped out to a quick 5-3 lead.
However, an 8-2 run sparked by Jimiese McDermott, who finished with 16 points, gave Sweetwater a lead it would not relinquish until early in the fourth quarter.

After the scoring streak by the Wildcats, both teams settled in and traded buckets again throughout the remainder of the quarter and Sweetwater held a 20-14 lead.
The field goal swapping continued into the second quarter, but two 3-pointers by Steve Bledsoe and Brandon Lingerfelt drew the Chiefs within four points at 26-22.

However, a scoring drought that lasted 4:22 allowed Sweetwater to increase the lead to 10 points with 2:51 remaining.
Bledsoe scored the last points of the half with 1:45 to go and cut into the Cats advantage, but Sweetwater still held a 32-24 halftime lead.
Sequoyah's Justin Phillips and Sweetwater's Joey Raby swapped field goal to begin the second half, but the Chiefs whittled the Sweetwater lead to just one point at 38-37 following an 11-4 run in the middle stages of the third quarter.

However, the Wildcats stopped that scoring binge and closed the third quarter with a 7-2 run of their own that pumped their lead back up to six points at 45-39.
Sequoyah finally broke through to take its first lead since the initial moments of the game on the strength of a 12-4 run to open the fourth quarter.

West and Jethro Griffin did all the scoring for the Chiefs during that stretch as West had seven points and Griffin scored the other five, including a 3-pointer that gave the Chiefs a 51-49 lead with 4:46 remaining in regulation.
Billingsley answered that big run immediately, cashing in on three-point plays in back-to-back possessions that gave the Wildcats the lead at 55-51.
But Sequoyah slowly chipped away at that deficit and finally tied the game at 59-59 with 1:17 to play when Griffin converted a three-point play.

Billingsley had two chances to secure the win in regulation for Sweetwater but came up short each time, once by missing two free throws with 32 seconds left and just missing a last-second floater after making a steal at mid-court with three seconds left.
The Wildcats appeared to be on their way to an easy win, outscoring Sequoyah 9-1 in the first two minutes of the extra period, but the Chiefs stormed back to tie the game at 70-70 with a 10-2 run that took 1:11.

However, a strong performance from the free-throw line in the final 29 seconds gave Sweetwater the lead and the game as the Wildcats were 6 of 10 from the charity stripe to end the game and seal the win.

Rounding out the scoring for Sweetwater was Gavyn Davis with 11 points, Raby with seven, and Curtis Badiu with two points.
Bledsoe finished with 17 points, Griffin scored 15 points, Phillips added seven and Derrick Atchley scored six points.
Lingerfelt and A.J. Whited rounded out the scoring with three and two points, respectively.
Sequoyah will be in action at the Lenoir City Christmas Tournament on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Sweetwater fell on Friday night to McMinn County 61-54. Check Thursday's edition of The Advocate & Democrat for a recap of that game.

Sweetwater will also be in action on Monday at Lenoir City as it challenges the host school at 7:30 p.m.