DAPHNE, Alabama—The Admirals used nine passes to set up their first basket, a 3-pointer by Spencer Newman, and followed with high-press defense to set the tone early on the way to a 52-29, Bayside Academy home win over T.R. Miller in the Class 3A Area 1 tournament Friday.

The No. 9-Ranked Admirals will play host to Cottage Hill Christian in the Area 1 championship Monday at 6 p.m. The CHC Warriors earned one more crack at the regular season champs earlier Friday with a 71-39 win over W. S. Neal.

Newman, a freshman, finished with 11 points and freshman Seth Matthews added 10 for Bayside which improved to 23-7 overall and remain undefeated in their league run. The Tiger’s Caleb Hubbard led all with a game-high of 14 points. The Admirals went 17-for-23 at the free-throw line while the Miller shooters hit on 15-of-29 trips.

Bayside led 25-8 at the half and 41-15 after three quarters. Younger back-up players got plenty of second-half minutes for both teams. The Admirals defense drew five charges and forced 12 other turnovers.

“It’s always good to get a win at this point,” said B.A. head coach Ralph Watson. “it’s an all or nothing game now and the season’s over for the team that doesn’t win. I thought we passed the ball well, our defense did a good job throughout—both our starters and our subs. Plus we shot well, consistently, from the line and from the field. We’ll need to do even more Monday night. Cottage Hill is a very good team.”

The Admirals swept the Warriors in the regular season with varying margins of 44-22 at CHC, but then more recently in Daphne, of 47-40.

“They improved during that time, so we will have our hands full,” Watson said. “They are well coached and play well on the road, but I think if we show up and play like we’re capable we will secure a home court for the next round. But we will have to play a whole game of good defense and offense. The guys are excited and we definitely want to play here one more time.”

The winner of Monday’s final will host the Sub-Regional round which begins Feb. 14. The runner-up will travel to the Area 2 winner.