PLANTERSVILLE — All Southside had to do in their final regular season game of the year was to beat Bibb County. If they had, they would have had a chance to host the Class 4A Area 6  tournament.

Unfortunately, the Panthers fell to the Choctaws, but they had a shot at redemption Friday in the opening round of the tournament, hosted by Dallas County High School.

Redemption would not come easy as the Panthers trailed much of the evening against Bibb County and had to overcome a 9-point deficit with less than seven minutes left in the game.

But, the Panthers did overcome the deficit and earned both redemption and a shot at an area tournament title as they won 79-71.

“I told the players earlier they needed to prepare for two games. They needed to prepare for this one and the next one,” Southside head coach Cedric Brown said. “We’re going to get to work tomorrow and we’re not even going to talk about Dallas County, we’re not even going to mention their name. We are going to work on us and our game.”

Trailing most of the game, the Panthers, who were down by nine points at few points throughout the second half, put in a full court press midway through the second half, a press that caused the Choctaws problems.

With 7:04 to go in the game, the Panthers went on a 16-6 run over the next five minutes to take a 1-point lead with 1:59 left.