MONTGOMERY — It wasn’t the prettiest or the best played game, but it was a win, and that’s all that counts.

R.C Hatch High School pulled out a 52-43 win against Horseshoe Bend in the AHSAA class AA central regional tournament at the Acadome in Montgomery.

“We didn’t really show up tonight,” said Hatch coach John Abraham. “But we got the win.”

There was some confusion from the beginning and the first shots of the game were taken on the wrong side of the court by R.C. Hatch.

“The referees lined everyone up for the tip-off wrong,” said Abraham. “We teach our girls ‘to the tip’ and they did that, so I’m not upset.”

The Bobcats were able to set the tempo early with the press, but they had to back out early in the half.

“They got us into foul trouble early so we had to switch into a 2-3 zone,” Abraham said.

There was contest was tightly from the start with Hatch pulling out to a 12-8 lead in the first quarter.

In the second half, due to the foul trouble, Horseshoe Bend was able to take advantage of the switch in defense and have good possession to pull to 19-16 before Hatch scored two quick baskets to end the half up 25-18.

“We have to give credit to Horseshoe Bend,” Abraham said. “They came ready to play.”

The game remained tight until the end.

The Hatch boys lost to Lenett, 61-59 Tuesday night.

Trenton Tucker led the way for Hatch with 21 points.

Hatch’s girls play Lenett Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Alabama State.