ATHENS — The Athens Hornets appeared to sleepwalk through parts of their District 17-3A contest against the Bullard Panthers Friday night.

They woke up before it snowballed into a miserable, sleepless night.

Trailing by as much as eight points in the third quarter, the Hornets rallied to beat the Panthers, 63-51, at AHS Gym.

The Hornets (19-11, 3-1 in 17-3A) nearly got a cherry on top when district-leader Brownsboro went into overtime with Chapel Hill. The Bears pulled out a 54-48 win, however, to move to 4-0 and remain atop the standings.

Athens will enter next week alone in second place, one game ahead of Chapel Hill.

“This win was big because we go on the road three times in the second half of district,” Athens head coach Tracy Carter said. “It’s wide open, the way I look at it.”

Bullard used a 15-3 run at the end of the second quarter to take a 29-23 lead by halftime, and the Panthers stayed on top until Anthony Taylor’s layup with 1:33 to go in the third tied the game at 37-37. It was the sixth straight Hornet point — all off turnovers.

It remained a one-possession game until Anthony Sanders hit a three-pointer with a hand in his face to give Athens a 53-49 lead with 2:03 left. From there, the Hornets continued the up-tempo pace Carter had been preaching since halftime.

Bullard scored just two points in the final three minutes and finished with eight fourth-quarter turnovers.

“I just thought we needed to speed up the pace of the game,” Carter said. “We were stagnant. We needed something to get our energy going. I think that was the turning point.”

Sanders led Athens with 22 points. Taylor netted 19 and Terrance Behan finished with 13.

BOYS

Athens 63, Bullard 51

Bullard    7    22    11    11    —    51

Athens    14    9    18    22    —    63

BULLARD — Taft Rose 19; Tyler Grabski 9; Chandler Clark 7; Scott Lowrie 7; Corbin Howard 5; Jaime McCleary 2; David Heithoff 2.

ATHENS — Anthony Sanders 22; Anthony Taylor 19; Terrance Behan 13; Zach Basher 6; Patrick Clark 2.

THREE-POINTERS — Bullard (3) — Clark; Rose; Grabski. Athens (3) — A. Sanders 3.

FREE THROWS — Bullard 12-15 (Rose 6-6). Athens 10-16 (A. Sanders 5-6).

TEAM FOULS — Bullard 16. Athens 14.

RECORDS — Bullard 10-17, 1-3. Athens 19-11, 3-1.

Girls

Bullard 69, Athens 37

Minta Spears scored 40 points and hit six of Bullard’s 12 three-pointers in a 69-37 win over the Athens Lady Hornets Friday night at AHS Gym.

The district-leading Lady Panthers (21-9, 6-0 in 17-3A) made their intentions clear from the opening quarter by firing up 12 three-point attempts. Their first nine points of the game came off threes, and they held an 11-0 advantage before the Lady Hornets got on the board. By halftime, Spears — a Texas Tech signee — had outscored the Lady Hornets on her own, 24-20.

The third quarter brought new life to Athens, however, with Cari Aguilera scoring seven of her 10 points in the frame. She finished with a double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds.

Demi Cumby led Athens (12-13, 2-3) in scoring with 15 points, with six coming in the fourth quarter.

GIRLS

Bullard 69, Athens 37

Bullard    18    24    20    7    —    37

Athens    6    114    10    7    —    69

BULLARD — Minta Spears 40; Samantha Cummins 6; Kylee Nichols 6; Emily Voyles 4; Rachel Horton 3; Madison Slayter 3; Valerie Holman 3; Chelsie Southerland 2; Ashley Frost 1; Mallory McCoy 1.

ATHENS — Demi Cumby 15; Cari Aguilera 10; Allison Kalawe 6; Josee McNeece 2; Avery Phillips 2; Amber Coby 2.

THREE-POINTERS — Bullard (12) — Spears 6; Cummins 2; Nichols 2; Holman; Slayter. Athens (1) — Cumby.

FREE THROWS — Bullard 17-24 (Spears 14-15). Athens 8-14 (Aguilera 6-9).

TEAM FOULS — Bullard 16. Athens 15.

RECORDS — Bullard 21-9, 6-0. Athens 12-13,  2-3

Junior varsity boys

Athens 58, Bullard 36

Four players scored in double figures in helping the Athens Hornets rally from a first-half deficit to beat Bullard Friday, 58-36.

Pedro Alanis led the way with 13 points for Athens. Kenden Crist and Ryan Jefferson scored 12 each.