ROBERTSDALE — The first Golden Bear Classic basketball tournament hosted by Robertsdale High wrapped up Saturday. The classic round-robin format featured four boys and four girls teams including some top-ranked squads in the state.

The Golden Bears went 2-1 in the boys division defeating Walker 59-54 Thursday, fell to Faith Academy 54-48 Friday and outscored a tough Sidney Lanier Poet team 56-53 Saturday.

"I was really proud of my players for coming back after that Faith game," said RHS head coach Marshall Davis Jr. "The kids really showed me a lot tonight. Last night we lost a heartbreaker to a number five ranked team in 5A Faith Academy. But to come back and win against a really good team like Sidney Lanier showed a lot of character and I'm so proud of the way they played."

The Bears head off to Dothan Saturday to play in the Dothan Eagle/Progress Holiday 16-team tournament.

On the girls side, The Lady Golden Bears fell to No. 3 ranked Leflore and No.1 ranked Faith Academy but opened with a 47-43 win over Walker last Thursday.

Head coach Scott Harville said facing two of the best teams in the state along with a very good Walker team will pay off down the stretch.

"The best thing about this is that the teams that came in made the competition great. When you play two top teams and a really good team like Walker out of Birmingham, it helps you get better. And it's good for our players to expose us to other teams that normally we don't see a lot of."

Faith's Lady Rams defeated the Lady Bears 50-36 while the Lady Rattlers won 42-31. The two 5A powerhouses that play in the same area did not face off in the tournament but LeFlore defeated Walker 43-32 and Faith topped WHS 55-23.

In the last game, Shelby Trotter led the Lady Bears with 11 points and Shelia Dailey added eight. For the Bears in their win over the Poets, Brandon Ellis led all with 24 points including three 3-pointers. Kent Langham contributed 11 along with some key rebounds down the stretch.

RHS led early most of the way with a 31-21 margin at the half. SLHS closed within two to start the fourth quarter 42-40 and to within one point 48-47 at the three minute mark.

With 1:50 left in the game, the Poets took the lead 51-50.

But the Bears hung in with key free throws by Ellis, Langham and Quinton Evans to outscore the poets 6-4 in the last minute.

In other games, Lanier defeated Walker 45-39, but lost to the Faith Rams 56-44. Faith topped WHS 53-40.