FLORENCE — After building a double-digit lead, Lauderdale County held off a fourth-quarter rally by Clements to claim a 45-37 win in the opening round of the Class 3A, Area 16 Tournament Tuesday evening.

Three players reached double figures as the Tigers advanced to meet host Mars Hill Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Tigers led 31-21 early in the fourth quarter before Clements used a 10-3 run to pull to within 34-31 with 5:21 remaining.

Seing the familiar scenario several times this season, LCHS head coach Mark Newton called timeout to regroup his team.

"We have been in that situation many times this year and haven't handled it very well," said Newton. "I told the team it was time to settle down and put an end to it or we would be right back where we started from."

The Tigers responded, holding Clements scoreless for the next 3:41.

Drew Newton led the Tigers with 13 points, including seven in the fourth quarter. Nathanael McCafferty added 12 points while Daniel Tiede scored nine of his 11 points in the second half.

Class 1A, Area 16

Waterloo 53, Covenant Christian 46: Waterloo moved into the semifinals against R.A. Hubbard with a hard-fought win against Covenant Christian.

Tyler Whipple scored Waterloo's final 10 points and the Cougars ended the game on a 16-4 run in the final 2:38 to end Covenant's season.

Whipple finished with a game-high 22 points. Wayne Darby added 12 points for the Cougars (10-17).

Sam Griffith led Covenant with 19 points. John David Lawler added 11 points.

Regular season

Winston County 76, Cherokee 47: Ty Beatmon led the Indians with 17 points, but Winston County overpowered Cherokee in the first and fourth quarters for the win.

Timber Blankenship scored 27 points to lead Winston County. Cody Henderson added 15.

Hardin County 62, Wayne County 30: Hardin County opened a 34-13 lead at halftime and cruised to the win.

Zack Risner led Wayne County (10-13) with 11 points.

Columbia Academy 78, Collinwood 61: Columbia Academy had four players score at least 15 points in a victory over Collinwood.

Zac Savankham led Columbia Academy (21-4) with 18 points. Wesley Pigg scored 20 points and Logan Montgomery added 12 for Collinwood (16-8).

Lawrence County 54, Wilson 49: Jesse Childress scored 20 points to power Lawrence County past Wilson on Monday night.

Kenneth Henry led Wilson with 13 points, followed by Austen Oakley with 11 and Brennan Parrish with 10.

Girls

Class 3A, Area 16

Clements 52, Colbert County 29: Clements used its inside-outside game to down Colbert County in the opening round.

Daneisha Malone dominated the paint with 20 points and seven blocks while MaCall Gossett hit five three-pointers to finish with 15 points for the Colts.

Colbert County trailed 24-11 at the half but cut the lead to 30-22 on a basket by Mija Newsome late in the third quarter.

Clements, however, closed the quarter with seven straight points and maintained at least a 13-point lead the rest of the way.

Junior Klarissa Whalen led Colbert County with 12 points after connecting on a three-pointer in each quarter. Newsome finished with six points for the Indians.

Regular season

Huntsville 53, Florence 36: Emily Towery and Alexis Sherrod scored 12 points each for Florence in a loss to Huntsville.

The Panthers outscored Florence 18-10 in the third quarter to break open a tight game. Shaquera Wade scored 15 points for Huntsville.

Winston County 45, Cherokee 39: Kayla Pruitt scored 23 points and Winston County outscored Cherokee 22-16 in the final quarter to take the win. Megan Turnbow led Cherokee with nine points.

Collinwood 45, Columbia Academy 8: Collinwood held Columbia Academy to two points in each period in cruising to a road victory.

Hanna Littrell and Laken Arnett led the Trojans with eight points each.

Hardin County 52, Wayne County 43: Hardin County outscored Wayne County 20-10 in the fourth period to rally past the Wildcats.

Morgan Ann Mathis scored 10 points to lead Wayne County (8-16). Morgan Willoughby led Hardin County with 17 points.