DAPHNE, Alabama — Fairhope and Foley advanced with first-round wins

Friday night to the 6A Area 3 championship game at Daphne, to be

played at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

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Daphne's' season came to an end in overtime as the Pirates pulled

away for a 61-53 win while the Lions' ended the Golden Bears' 2012

run on a 67-58 final tally.

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The

host team Trojans led 21-19 at the half but later had to rally late

in the fourth quarter to force an overtime on C.J. Yelding's pass

to Devonte Young to tie it 48-48 with seven seconds to go. 

But Fairhope took charge in the OT and advanced behind Nate

Andrews' 10 OT points. Andrews also led in regulation with 17 while

teammate Lewis Hunter finished with 16. Tevin Rencher led Daphne

with 15 while Donovan Dale and Chris Sain added nine each. The

Trojans won the regular-season area race with one senior in Preston

Hughes who was injured late in the season and a young set of

starters, but DHS coach Cedric Yelding said that's not an excuse

for falling.

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"Young is over," he said. "After you play 25 or more games, you

can't use that anymore. We just weren't ready and I don't know why.

We should have been ready. We got some positives to build off of

for next year. Returning five starters. Preston missed eight games

and this was his first game back but he was not 100 percent. And

still that's no excuse. But I told them to hold their heads up and

go to work for next year."

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Fairhope improved to 14-9 with the win and coach Andy Ryan said he

was proud of his players who went 1-2 with DHS before equalizing 

the series Friday. "They faced a little adversity and faced a

double-digit lead at one point, but they never got their heads down

and hung in there. And that's a testament to their character and

how hard they worked. Nate was clutch and made free throws down the

stretch. Lewis Hunter and Rushing Watson and all our kids played

hard and I'm proud. Daphne's a good team and they made a run like

we knew they would. So to beat the regular-season area champs at

their place and it being a big rival game is just a huge win for

us."

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Robertsdale led 11-9 after the first period but trailed 25-22 at

the half in the second game. Foley's 24-12 scoring advantage in the

third gave them a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lions protected that margin until the final minute when Dionta

Banks buried a pair of treys for the Bears.

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RHS

was led by Banks' game-high 25 points and Alphonso Stewart's

14.

The

Lions' big center Rafael Adams had a 22-point night while holding

down the paint defensively at the other end where he forced less

quality inside shots by the Bears. Quinton Butler added 11 points

for Foley. The Bears and the Lions had split during the regular

season and so came into the tournament 1-1.

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Bears coach Marshall Davis said he didn't do a good job of having

his team ready. "I did a poor job. We just weren't ready," he said.

"We have not played good defense the last three games and I should

have had them prepared. But they played with a lot of effort, I

think they played hard and they showed a lot class at the end of

the game."

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Foley coach Shumbe Hunter said his team did a good job of staying

focused which had been a problem during the season. "I told them to

value each and every one of the 32 minutes we had. We have had

problems finishing games when we had a lead. Tonight we didn't lose

focus. We stayed with it all the way."

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Hunter said winning Monday will take  more of that focus and

concentration.

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"Fairhope is well coached. We will have to play solid defense

because they have smart players who run their offense to a tee.

And, again, we will have to value the 32 minutes and play focused

from start to finish."

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Ryan said his team will need to focus as well. The Lions and

Pirates split during the regular season.

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"Their big guy, Rafael, poses a special challenge for us," he said.

"But all four teams in the area have been really close this year.

The regular season was a game away from a four-way tie. So that

tells you that the teams have been even, but we'll try to be ready

and play our game. It will take a total-team effort. We will have

to stay focused and be ready to play on Monday. We have to put this

one behind us as much as we enjoy it now and be ready by

Monday."