The Eagles countered as Jalen Furlow drove through the lane and laid it in to push the lead to 51-40 with 4:26 left.

Then Ellwood’s Trevious Sheppard converted a three-point play, scoring on the basket and the free throw after being fouled on the shot, putting the Eagles ahead 54-40 with 3:35 left.

The Rangers could only muster one more basket the rest of the way.

Sheppard led the Eagles with 18 points, while Harris had 15 points.

Michael Smith also had 10 points and Kachavious Blevins had 9 points for the Eagles.

Dwayne Pritchett led the Rangers with 14 points.

The regional tournament determines the seeding for the AISA state tournament, which starts Thursday, Feb. 9 in Montgomery, and the win sends the Eagles to the regional championship game Saturday at Ellwood against Cornerstone at 5:30 p.m.

“We lost to Cornerstone twice this year,” Hendrieth said. “So we’re looking for a little bit of payback.”