Forest Hughes’s half-court heave looked like it was good when it left his hand, but after hitting the rim twice, the ball bounced away harmlessly.

The bounce gave the Tuscaloosa Academy Knights a 43-40 victory over John T. Morgan Academy in Friday night’s game.

“I’m proud of the way our guys fought back and took it to the end,” said Morgan coach Eli Jackson.

The game didn’t start very well for the Senators as missed shots and turnovers put them down 16-2 after the end of the first quarter.

However Morgan wasn’t in the mood to give up and they quickly turned around their sloppy performance and began to knock down shots.

After the second quarter was over the Senators had cut the lead to 21-16.

“You know when you are down 16-2 it doesn’t look like it will be a good game, but our kids didn’t give up,” Jackson said.

“Their (Morgan) guys did a good job of battling back,” said Tuscaloosa Academy Coach Josh Goldman. “Their crowd was very loud and really helped them.”

The third quarter of the game ran much like the second one and Morgan was able to pull to within 4 of the Knights.

Then it was a rain of three pointers for Morgan.

Connor Thorpe scored 6 of his game-high 15 in the fourth quarter and Jody Glover hit a 3-pointer with only 8 seconds to go to cut the lead to three.

After a quick foul sent Adam Burton to the line for Tuscaloosa line, but two straight misses and a Senator rebound gave Morgan one last gasp with 4.4 seconds left.

It was then that Hughes was able to weave his way down to half-court before throwing up what would be the final shot.

“Even though this was a loss, it was a step forward for our boys,” Jackson said. “We want to be able to keep this rhythm going to next week’s regional.”

Coal Brown scored 10 points for Morgan and Jody Glover pitched in with 5 points of his own.

Morgan will be back in action for senior night Monday night when they take on Wilcox Academy.