CAMDEN — A strong second half broke open a close game, as the Selma Saints defeated the Demopolis Tigers 67-45 Friday at Wilcox-Central High School in Class 5A Area 5 tournament play.

Woodie Jackson, head coach of the Saints (17-11), said his team was simply ready to play in the win that clinches the Saints a berth in the sub-regionals and sends them to the Class 5A Area 5 championship game Monday, Feb. 13 against host team Wilcox at 7 p.m. in Camden.

“We played much better and we played like we were prepared,” Woodie said. “We had two good days of hard practice. The guys listened, bought in and hustled. We still made some mistakes, but we recovered on some of the mistakes we made. Defense was pretty good, too.”

The Saints took a 24-16 lead into halftime, riding 10 first-half points from senior Henry Blevins.

Demopolis (7-18) cut the Saints’ lead to six points early in the second half after a pair of baskets from John Johnson, but Blevins answered with his second basket of the half to make it a 28-20 game with 5:38 remaining in the third.

The Saints continued the momentum, as Demario Gunn scored on a fast-break layup to push the game back to double digits at 30-20.

The Saints got another defensive stop and Darion Alexander hit a 3-pointer to make the score 33-20 with 4:59 left in the third.

A three-point play from the Tigers’ Ashton Wilks made it a 10-point game at 33-23 with 4:38 left in the quarter, but Selma didn’t let up, as Gunn got five more points toward the end of the quarter and the Saints took a 43-29 lead into the fourth.

The Saints maintained control, outscoring Demopolis 24-16 in the final quarter highlighted by a thunderous, fast break slam from Selma’s Kerry Mitchell.

Demopolis head coach Rodney Jackson said he’s proud of the effort his team gave all season long and he believes the Tigers have a bright future.