Selma’s Dexter Hatcher made a layup in the final seconds and the Saints escaped with a 57-55 hard fought win Friday over county rival Dallas County.

Saints head coach Woodie Jackson reacted to his team’s win by running to midcourt, throwing his arms into the air, and flashing a big smile.

Even to a coach with six state championships on his resume, this one meant a lot.

“If we had lost tonight, we would have beat ourselves,” Jackson said. “We didn’t play any ball the first half and came back and took the lead by 10 or 12 and then tried to give it away. Once we came together, we ended up playing a good game.”

Jackson said Friday was a measuring stick for his team. The Saints (15-3) had won plenty of games during the first part of the season, but Dallas County, the defending 4A state champions, were the type of test they were yet to pass.

“It’s a rivalry game, and they are the past 4A state champions,” Jackson said. “They have an excellent team, and they play hard.”

Dallas County head coach Willie Moore knew his team was going to be in for a stern test going into Selma, but he told his guys after the game that Friday was not the end of the world.

“I told my guys it’s Jan. 2, and this is not our state championship game,” Moore said. “This is not our area tournament.”

The Saints needed every point they could muster Friday.

Dallas County clawed back from a late 46-32 deficit by going on a 16-2 run that tied the game with 4:00 to play. Jerrod Moorer knocked in two three-pointers during that stretch, including one on a fade away. Selma battled back to take the lead after an intentional foul was called on the Hornets, giving Aderick Moore two free throws and the Saints the ball. Selma led 53-48 with three minutes left after a layup by Moore, but Javaris McGuire hit a three with 2:08 left to close the gap.

Both teams marched to the free throw line during the next several possessions.

Dallas County reclaimed the lead on an Audre Hall layup with 1:03 left. Hatcher scored with 25 seconds left to give Selma a 55-54 lead on a play almost identical to the one he would make seconds later to give Selma the win.

Selma fouled Moorer with 21.7 seconds left on a play that left Moore’s jersey bloody after a cut to his eye. Play was stopped for several minutes to clean up the floor. Once it resumed, Moore knocked in one free throw to tie the game. The Saints raced back down the floor and after Hatcher won a scuffle for the ball, he dribbled, went up and contorted his body for a basket that gave Selma the win and sent the Saints’ bench into celebration.

“We got down ten with about three minutes to go and we battled back like champions do,” DCHS’ Moore said. “We shot the ball at the end, and I thought it went [through] in time, but I guess it wasn’t meant for us to win on the scoreboard tonight.”

Dallas County led 23-6 after the first quarter and 23-8 midway through the second quarter. The Saints closed the first half with a 7-0 run and kept the momentum into the third quarter. After trailing by 15, the Saints scored 38 of the game’s next 47 points to take a commanding 46-32 advantage in the third quarter. Hatcher and Quentavious Davis each scored 14 points to lead the Saints. Moorer led Dallas County with 20 points.

Selma 63, Dallas County 8 (Girls)

Selma scored 16 points in the first four minutes of Friday’s game over Dallas County. That’s all the points the Lady Saints would need, as they rolled past the Hornets for a 63-8 win.

Jamya Smith hit four three-pointers, including two during Selma’s opening 16-0 run, to lead the Saints to the kind of bounce back win they needed after a tough loss last week to South Atlanta in the Dwight Madison Roundball Classic.

“Since we’ve been back from that tournament, we talked about discipline,” Selma head coach Anthony Harris said. “… Tonight we said we were going to come out and work hard. I told them to give me three hard minutes each quarter.”

Selma led 24-3 after the opening quarter and 43-3 at halftime.

Areyana Williams scored 18 points and Smith scored 16 points as part of her 6-for-6 shooting night.

The Lady Saints were able to play every player on their bench and eight players were able to score.

Dallas County made three field goals in the game. Asia Bufford led the Lady Hornets with four points.