MONTGOMERY&045;It’s been a long time since the Selma Saints played with such heart.

Coach Willie Maxey’s boys made it the championship game of the Blue and Gray Tournament in Montgomery Saturday night.

After two great games, the Saints fell short against a tough Jeff Davis squad, 77-69.

Just five and a half hours after beating Lee of Montgomery, the Saints were back on the court again.

From the tip-off, the game was very intense and stayed at a frenetic pace.

Brandon Davis finished with 20 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 3 steals. Randall Rutledge added 14 points while Jeremy Carter added 13 points and 8 rebounds.

In the first quarter both teams had a chance to lead as they got off to a run-and-gun start.

Carter pounded the boards as usual and Davis was hitting from the outside.

After the first quarter the Saints led 24-18.

John Dailey hit a 3-pointer to get things going.

Carter established his dominance in the second quarter.

After blocking a Lawrence Jordan layup, he threw the ball down court to Davis for 2 more.

At the half, Maxey and the Saints led 40-37.

In the third quarter Jeff Davis’ Courtney Thomas got things tied at 40 with a 3-pointer.

The crowd went wild for the home team.

Despite suffering from a sprained ankle, Rutledge took his game to another level.

He hit a pair of layups and fed the ball to Darrett Fletcher twice for buckets.

But Jeff Davis turned up the heat.

Adrian Allen went to work.

He tied the game with a strong putback.

After a Jeff Davis bucket Allen scored again to tie things at 51.

The Saints finally hit a cold stretch and Jeff Davis extended their lead to 63-55. Selma refused to give up.

Davis began attacking the basket and the Saint quickly cut the lead to just four.

At the 5:01 mark Davis drove to the hole and was knocked to the hardwood.

The whistle blew, but the call was an offensive foul that Selma fans found offensive.

With 2:31 left, Jeff Davis went up by 10, but

Rutledge led one final Saints’ charge.

He knocked down a trifecta and the Saints pulled closer.

Jeff Davis took the air out of the ball and ran as much clock as they could.

Davis held on for the 77-69 win.

Davis and Fletcher were named to the All-Tournament team.

The Saints, now 6-4 on the season, got scoring help from Fletcher with 9 points and 6 boards.

Allen added 7 points and 5 boards.

Edgar Brown had 3 points as did John Dailey.

The Saints play again this weekend in the Selma Invitational Christmas Tournament that starts this Friday.