MUSCLE SHOALS — Thanks to some pressure defense and a clock-draining half-court game, Sheffield managed to slow Deshler’s fast-break offense in the second half of Friday’s Colbert County boys basketball tournament semifinal.

But the shots just never fell for the Bulldogs, who couldn’t catch Deshler in a 51-42 win that sent the Tigers into tonight’s championship game.

Tip-off will immediately follow the conclusion of the girls championship game between Deshler and Sheffield, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Northwest-Shoals Community College.

Deshler used its speed to get out in transition during a 16-3 run spanning the late first and early second quarters that gave the Tigers a permanent lead.

“I just want us to play our style of basketball,” first-year Deshler coach Errol Jones said. “If they allow us to run, we’re going to run. If they want to take the run away from us, we have to be smart enough to slow it down, set up in the half-court offense and execute. We didn’t do such a good job of that in the second half.”

BJ Bailey scored his third of three straight baskets to cap the scoring surge for a 22-10 Deshler lead with 6:21 left in the first half.

The beneficiary of solid interior passing, Bailey, who often found himself alone under the basket, scored all of his game-high 17 points in the first half, as Deshler took a 32-25 halftime lead.

“We wanted to get up and down the court — that’s our game,” Bailey said. “That was the most points I’ve ever scored in one half. I was just able to find some space under the basket and my teammates made some good passes.”

Slowing down the Tigers after halftime, Sheffield trailed by as little as 37-34 with 3:47 left in the third quarter after a 9-3 spurt, but got no closer.

Continuing their poor-shooting trend, the Bulldogs made three shots from the field in the final 11 minutes and were 2-of-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

JuJu Donley added 11 points for Deshler. Shaquille Carroll’s 10 point led Sheffield.

“We didn’t shoot it well, we turned it over too many times, we got beat on the boards,” said Sheffield coach Ski Anderson, whose team beat Deshler in two previous meetings this season. “We just didn’t play well.

“We thought we’d try to get into the press the second half, try to make something happen and get into our half-court game. We just didn’t finish.”

Muscle Shoals 59,

Colbert Heights 36

Muscle Shoals sank six of its seven 3-pointers in the first half, including four by Chase Craig, as the Trojans pulled away in a semifinal rout.

All of Craig’s 3s and 12 of his game-high 15 points came in the first half, as Muscle Shoals took a 32-20 halftime lead.

“When they pack it in there defensively like they did, it’s tough,” Muscle Shoals coach Jody Lanier said of the Wildcats crowding the paint. “When that happens, we’re going to have to shoot like that. We didn’t shoot so well the second half, but I thought we played better defensively.”

Colbert Heights came no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, as the Trojans held the Wildcats to 16 points in the second half.

Kaleb Suggs had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds to lead Colbert Heights.

Mikey Bailey added 12 points for the Trojans, and Bryson Smith had 10 for the Wildcats.

Muscle Shoals is looking for its sixth straight county tournament title, and Friday’s win sets up its first meeting this season with Deshler.

Boys Regular season

n Belgren 49, Tharptown 44: Belgreen wrapped up the Class 1A, Area 13 regular season title with a 49-44 victory at Tharptown.

The Bulldogs led almost all the way, but Tharptown made a late run and pulled within two in the final minutes. Chaney Simmons hit two free throws to push the lead to four with 20 seconds remaining and Brock Hester added another free throw in the closing seconds as Belgreen (15-2) improved to 7-0 in area play.

“It’s always good to win the area,” coach Greg Watson said. “It doesn’t mean a lot, but it is nice to play at home in the area tournament. Our kids have worked hard this season and I’m very proud of them.”

Jacob Tittle led Belgreen (15-2, 7-0) with 15 points and Chase Landers added 12.

Riley Nolen scored 15 and Kent Allen 13 for Tharptown.

n Mars Hill 76, Hatton 66: Mars Hill put together a second-half rally to knock off Hatton in a Class 2A, Area 16 game.

Hatton used some hot shooting in the first half to take a 40-33 lead into halftime.

Mars Hill rallied in the third quarter as Griffin Hibbett hit a pair of 3-pointers and Mark McWilliams came off the bench to score six points and the Panthers took a 53-52 lead into the fourth quarter. Joe Wilson scored eight points in the final quarter to help the Panthers (13-4, 5-0) pull away and remain unbeaten in area play.

Wilson led five Mars Hill players in double figures with 17 points. Hibbett added 15 points, followed by Harrison Chastain with 12, Landon Willis with 11 and McWilliams with 10.

Regan Carpenter led Hatton with 18 points, while Ty Terry had 16 and Laron Cooper 15.

Mars Hill will play at Florence tonight.

n Shoals Christian 77, Waterloo 57: Four players scored in double figures as Shoals Christian (6-8) downed Waterloo in Class 1A, Area 16 play.

The Flame outscored Waterloo 35-21 in the first half and closed with a 26-point fourth-quarter effort to seal the win.

Devan Traglia led Shoals Christian with 21 points, while Will Bishop added 17. Chandler Russ scored 11 points and Matthew Russ had 10.

Wayne Darby led all scorers with 22 points and Dillon Guthrie netted 17 for Waterloo (6-12).

n Lexington 61, Central 47: Logan Thompson went 14-16 from the free throw line and scored a game-high 23 points as Lexington closed out Central.

The Golden Bears held a 4-point advantage after the opening quarter and extended their lead to 27-16 at the half. Lexington outscored the Wildcats 34-31 in the second half.

Jake Rogers notched 18 points for Lexington (9-8) and Wade McNutt added 13.

Grayson Reesor led Central with 11 points.

n Phil Campbell 78, Sulligent 60: Phil Campbell scored 31 points in the opening quarter and neverlooked back knocking off Sulligent in Class 2A, Area 13 play.

The Bobcats held a 41-15 halftime lead and, despite an improved second half, Sulligent was unable to close the gap.

Cameron Harris paced Phil Campbell (10-6) with 26 points and Skeeter Benford tallied 23.

LaDedrick Coleman and freshman Jerrin Hester each scored 14 points for Sulligent and Deion Jenkins chipped in with 13.

n Phillips 71, Vina 56: Rodney Camp led a balanced scoring attack for Phillips as the Bears defeated Vina 71-56 on Friday night. Camp scored 20 points for the Bears, while Matt Kelly added 17 and Austin Campbell chipped in 16 in the winning effort.

Phillips led 18-5 after the first quarter, but Vina came back in the second quarter, and trailed just 25-21 at halftime. However, The Bears outscored Vina 21-11 in the third quarter to pull away for good. Adam Pharr led Vina with 17 points while Nicholas Miller and Nicolas Schmittou each scored 15 for the Red Devils.

n Red Bay 54, Lamar County 48: Red Bay jumped out to a huge lead after one quarter and coasted to a 54-48 victory the rest of the way against Lamar County.

The Tigers were outscored in every quarter except for the first, but built up such a lead after the first eight minutes that they were never challenged by Lamar County.

Brett McDowell led Red Bay (7-9, 2-1) with 15 points. Lamar County was led by Marquez Lacey with 21 points.

n Wayne County 51, Collinwood 48: In a game that was close all the way, it was Wayne County that came up with the final push to secure a 51-48 victory over Collinwood.

Wayne County led by three points after one quarter and just 26-24 at halftime. Collinwood closed in during the second half, but could never make a run to take the lead and the victory.

Peyton Mathis led Wayne County with 20 points. Collinwood (9-7, 1-2) was led by Ethan Butler with 16 points, Jace Brewer with 12 points and Jacob Daniel with 10 points

Girls

n Athens 46, Russellville 45: Russellville had the ball in the closing seconds with a chance to win, but the Golden Tigers were unable to get a shot off as Athens escaped with the area win.

Amber Elliott scored 16 points and Ayanna McCullough had 11 to lead Russellville (10-3, 1-2). Destany McLin led Athens with 16 points.

n Tharptown 51, Belgreen 45: Tharptown remained unbeaten in area play as the Wildcats held off Tharptown.

The Wildcats led 30-27 at halftime and extended the margin to 43-33 after three quarters.

Kamri Sears scored 15 points for Tharptown and Erika Sparks added 11.

Erica Smith had a game-high 24 points for Belgreen, while Laken Bragwell and Kelsey Oliver contributed 10 points each.

n Wilson 51, Rogers 35: Wilson used a strong defensive effort to earn a home victory against Rogers.

The Warriors held the Pirates to 19 points through the first three quarters to take a commanding 35-19 lead into the final eight minutes.

Brittany Gooch led Wilson (7-10) with 15 points and Harley Barkley scored 10. Maggie Green led Rogers with nine points.

n Red Bay 67, Lamar County 46: Red Bay improved to 3-0 in area play as the Tigers rolled past Lamar County.

The Tigers outscored Lamar County in all four quarters, including 25-17 in the second quarter that put Red Bay up 42-29 at halftime.

Hannah Sharp scored 19 points to lead Red Bay (14-2). Kasey Sparks added 13 points and Lexie Lindsey 10 for the Tigers. Malika Swanigan led Lamar County with 20 points.

n Shoals Christian 39, Waterloo 17: Sophomore Kalyn Davis scored a game-high 14 points as the Flame improved their record to 4-2 in area play knocking off Waterloo.

Shoals Christian held the Cougars scoreless in the second quarter and led 18-5 at the midway point. A 13-4 third quarter gave the Flame a 22-point advantage.

Grace Matthews added 10 points for Shoals Christian (6-11).

n Collinwood 41, Wayne County 31: Collinwood won a defensive struggle over Wayne County, and in doing so, kept its area record perfect.

The first half was especially low scoring, as Collinwood led 12-5 at halftime. Both team’s offenses opened up in the second half, but Collinwood was able to maintain its comfortable advantage all the way to the final buzzer.

Alexis Haddock led Collinwood with 17 points while Wayne County was led by Kelsey Risner with 13.