By TREY HICKMAN/For the Reporter

CALERA — Thanks to a Kenton Petties-led fourth-quarter comeback, the Dora varsity boys’ basketball team overcame an eight-point deficit to take the lead from host Calera before the Eagles ended the contest on a high note to eke out a 69-65 win Jan 4.

Petties sank two free throws to tie the game at 63 with 45.8 seconds left in the game, then drained a couple more to put the Bulldogs up by two. Calera then closed out the contest on a 6-0 run thanks to three points apiece from Jordan Bishop and Tyler Harrell.

“First of all, we came out and showed a lot of good energy early on (in the game),” said Calera head coach George Drake. “You hate to give up a big lead. I think there’s one point where we were up by 16 or 17 points and Dora started to make plays.

“They are coached by a really great coach over there at Dora, and he teaches his guys never to quit and fight and they showed that. They were very resilient, especially in that second half and they made things a little difficult for us but, at the same time, I have to tip my hat off to our guys.”

Bishop led Calera (8-5) with 20 points while Drew Marling added 17 — including a trio of 3-pointers — and Harrell had nine.

The Eagles welcomed back Ronnie Clark, who logged 10 points after missing the previous contest while playing in the Under Armour All-America football game in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Dora’s Petties tallied a game-high 29 points — including 14 in the final quarter — as the Bulldogs fell to 13-4.