SPANISH FORT, Alabama — Bayside Academy wiped out a a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter at Spanish Fort Thursday to tie the Toros 39-39 with 48 seconds left in the game.

Spencer Newman made a back-court steal and hit David Deneefe breaking to the Admirals’ basket to complete the tying rally, but Reagan Eubanks got open enough to make a 3-point shot for SFHS with six seconds to go in regulation to put the Toros back up 42-39 for the at-home win.

Eubanks finished with 13 points, Quinn Atkinson added 10, Garrett Schumacher seven and Austin Depperschmidt six for the (22-5) Toros.

The Admirals (21-7), ranked No. 8 in Class 3A, were led by Nelson Newman’s game-high 14 points while Spencer Newman added nine and Garris Goe had six. Spanish Fort went 8-for-14 at the free throw line. Bayside was 6-of-10 at the stripe.

The first two periods were major defensive efforts as few quality shots were allowed. The Toros led 15-12 at the half and 11-6 to start the second quarter.

"It was a low-scoring game," said Spanish Fort coach Dru Powell. "Both teams played real well defensively in the first half. Both teams had a hard time scoring early. It was a defensive struggle. Our kids played extremely hard."

Eubanks’ trey from the corner bounced off the rim and onto the backboard rail. The ball then rolled back and forth before finally dropping back into the cylinder for what would be the winning bucket.

"I couldn't believe that ball went in," said Bayside coach Ralph Watson. "I've coached a long time and that's the first time I've seen someone shoot a shot like that which ended up being the game-winner. But we made a good comeback. I'm proud of our effort. We played hard and gave ourselves a chance to win. It was a good defensive game. We shot 30 percent from the field and had a chance to win against a good team. We can make this a positive or we can mope around but it's playoff time now. Spanish Fort whipped us by 22 points over at our place so I thought we played a lot better tonight against them."

Powell said he knew the 31-23 margin his team had built by the end of the third period might not hold against the explosive Admirals offense down the stretch.

"First of all, we were playing a good team and that's what they will do," he said. "They shot exceptionally well from the perimeter in the second half and it was almost the difference in the game. I thought in the third quarter we played much better than we did in the first half. But the game was a lot closer than what we would have liked. I'm proud of the guys, though, we had our only two consecutive losses against Williamson and Baldwin County and so this win gets us back on the right track."

SFHS extended the late lead to 36-23 with 5:39 left in the game, but the Admirals struck out on a 15-1 run over the next three minutes to make it a two-point game before Deneefe’s layup.

The Toros travel to B.C. Rain Friday to play Williamson in the first round of the 5A Area 2 tournament at 7:30 p.m. Gulf Shores faces Rain at 6 p.m.

Bayside won their 3A Area 1 regular-season and will host T.R. Miller in round one of the tournament beginning Friday at 6 p.m.