DAPHNE, Ala. – The Daphne Trojans trailed until late in the game, but pulled out a big 6A Area 3, 41-35 win over visiting Robertsdale Friday. The Golden Bears took their first area loss (3-1, 13-8 overall) while Daphne improved to 3-0, 10-5. The two meet again in Robertsdale Jan. 21.

“Very big game,” said Daphne coach Cedric Yelding. “Very big. Robertsdale has been playing very well this year and they beat us three times last year. So we knew they would be strong again. We did not shoot that well in the first half, but I told them to stay focused and take it strong to the basket. (The Bears) are going to block some, but just keep attacking and take it to the rim and finish. T.J. (Yeldon) came out and played a great second half for us. He was the main one I challenged at the half to come out and be aggressive taking it inside.”

Robertsdale head coach Marshall Davis Jr. said early foul trouble cost his team.

“What really killed our momentum was when (Calvin Dade) got in foultrouble early. With Calvin sitting so long, they got back in it. But we had our chances. We knew Daphne would be up for this one and they were.”

The Trojans' Preston Solomon scored 18 points, T.J. Yeldon 11 and Tyler Birch six for Daphne.

Allen Ware and Cordero Dade scored eight points each for the Bears while Kent Langham added seven and Calvin Dade six for Robertsdale.

Daphne led 7-5 midway into the first quarter, but the Golden Bears took the lead and held to build a 21-15 RHS margin at the half.

Daphne edged back to within a bucket 23-21 in the first four minutes of the third and tied it 23-23 on a short jumper by Chris Sain with 2:14 left in the period. The Trojans took the lead 25-23 with 57 second showing, but a baseline layup by Joseph Prim, Jr. evened it for RHS at 25-25 going into the fourth quarter.

The score was tied again 27-27 one minute into the fourth. The Bears then built a 33-29 lead with 4:44 to go.

The Trojans kept edging back, including by trips to the foul line and retook the lead 35-34 with 2:10 left in the game.

Robertsdale managed to add just one more point down the stretch while the Trojans pulled away for good.

The Bears went 9-for-16 at the free-throw line, DHS went 10-of-17.