FLORENCE — Alex Borden picked the perfect time to score her first points of the game Thursday night against Lexington.

Her basket as time expired gave Hatton a 51-50 win over the Bears in the first round of the Class 2A, Area 16 tournament at Mars Hill.

Mars Hill will meet Hatton Monday at 6:30 p.m. for the area championship.

The shot came only seconds after Lexington had taken its first lead of the second half on a jumper by Savannah Stults with six seconds remaining. The Golden Bears had trailed the entire second half until that point.

Hatton inbounded the ball to Mariah Cantrell, who made it to half court before making a final heave. The ball found Borden in the lane and the senior made the most of her opportunity.

“This was such an exciting game,” Hatton head coach Lisa Johnson said. “The girls worked really hard in practice on putting pressure on the ball. Lexington is a very good team that had already beaten us twice this season. I am so proud of the way we played tonight.”

After the Hornets used a quick start to build an early 12-4 lead Lexington responded in the second quarter. The Golden Bears used a 14-5 run to grab a brief 18-17 lead with 4:21 remaining in the half. Hatton answered with a basket by Meagan Johnson and took a 23-19 lead into the break.

The Hornets led 34-29 at the end of the third quarter and by as many as seven in the final period, but could never put the game away. After Hatton grabbed a 47-40 advantage, Lexington used an 8-2 run to pull to within a single point in the final minute.

The Golden Bears forced a five-second call on defense before Stults’ shot gave them a 50-49 lead and set up the game-winner for Borden.

Cantrell and Jordan Johnson scored 18 points each to lead Hatton. Jordan did most of her damage in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points.

Lexington’s Haven Albright scored 10 fourth-quarter points and

finished the game with a team-high 15 points.

n Mars Hill 76, Cherokee 25: Full-court pressure and up-tempo offense allowed host Mars Hill to easily advance over Cherokee.

The sixth-ranked Panthers led wire-to-wire after opening the game on a 25-5 run while Cherokee never challenged. Twelve different players scored for Mars Hill (24-6).

After a 16-5 advantage gave the hosts a 41-10 lead at the break, every player on each roster began to see playing time in the second half.

Carlee Harrison led the Panthers with 15 points while Briana Goodloe turned in a game-high 17 points for the Indians.