TUSCUMBIA — Having knocked off Deshler for the first time ever earlier this season, Brooks’ girls felt confident coming into Thursday’s Class 4A, Area 16 basketball tournament opener despite being the fourth seed.

Behind a game-high 25-point performance by senior Kris Luking and a fourth-quarter response to a late rally, the Lions beat top-seeded Deshler again, 56-48.

With the win, Brooks (11-17) advances to the area tournament final to face Wilson and clinches a sub-regional berth.

The loss ended Deshler’s season. It’s the first time since at least the 1989-90 season that the Tigers have failed to advance out of the area tournament.

“We knew we could beat them. No doubt about it,” Luking said. “We had a rough start at the beginning of the season, but we’re a tournament team. We’re ready now. This is the best team I’ve ever played with at Brooks.”

Luking scored 17 of her 25 in the second half and sank three of her four third-quarter 3-point attempts, as Brooks staked a game-high 34-22 lead with 3:33 left in the quarter.

“Warming up today at school, Kris was hitting shots,” Brooks coach Ryan Roberson said. “We thought her being the senior, she could step up and lead us, and she did. She did what we needed her to do: make shots and play defense.”

But Deshler’s press led to easy transition baskets, as the Tigers responded with a 16-4 run to tie it at 35.

“When we tied it, I thought we were going to go ahead and finish it,” Deshler coach Jana Killen said. “We got some steals and turnovers for buckets, but we just couldn’t make shots.”

Yeshea Harden scored a team-high 15 points for Deshler, and her basket with 4:15 to play tied it at 44. But the Lions finished the game on a 12-4 run, which started with three straight Tigers turnovers.

“We’ve got such a young team, I think they just got nervous,” said Luking, the only healthy senior for the Lions, who start two eighth-graders. “We panicked a little, but we pulled it out as a team. That’s all that matters.”

Deanna Thompson added 18 points for Brooks. Jothani Dixon finished with 14 for Deshler.

n Wilson 54, Central 27: Shaken by the death of classmate and football player Kevin Hughes, who was involved in a car wreck early Thursday morning, Wilson’s girls made a decision to play in his memory that night.

The Warriors came out with intensity early, out-scoring Central 24-7 in the first half of an easy area tournament-opening win.

“It’s been an emotional day for us,” Wilson coach Kristi Shollenberger said. “I think that was a big factor. The girls wanted to do it for the community and kind of in memory of Kevin. We could have put anybody out there and I think we would have won tonight.

“I told them that we have two choices: We can lay down and quit, or we can stand up and play our best. And we thought that’s what Kevin would want us to do.”

With a relentless trap defense, Wilson held Central scoreless for a 14-minute, 3-second stretch before Abby Keener sank a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Ciarra Edwards scored a game-high 17 points while making 9 of 10 free throws for the third-seeded Warriors (14-15), who beat Central for the first time this season. The Wildcats had won the previous two meetings by seven and six, respectively.

“It was a pretty tough day, pretty emotional,” Edwards said. “Kevin was in our grade, so a lot of us had a bond with him. We just decided to try to make a positive out of it and play for him.”

Brittany Gooch sank 9 of 11 free throws and added 13 points for Wilson.

Central came no closer than 15 in the second half. Keener finished with a team-high 12 points, and post player Aleeha Bridges had 10.

“We really worked on our half-court trap this week, and we planned to do that against them,” Shollenberger said. “We wanted to keep them shooting outside shots, and keep the ball away from Bridges. Those were our main things.”

Shollenberger said the team found out about Hughes’ death around 9 a.m., and she thought about seeking a make-up date for the game.

“We decided we probably had to go ahead and play it, that the state probably wouldn’t allow us to change the game date,” she said. “At first, I was wanting to push it back, but then I thought that if we came out here and did our best, it would be a great win for our community.”

Bryan App can be reached at 256-740-5730 or bryan.app@TimesDaily.com.