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MONTGOMERY — The Keith Bears had a great game plan for the fourth meeting with R.C. Hatch.

They controlled the tempo and built a big lead through three quarters, but R.C. Hatch rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Keith 64-61 Monday in the Class 1A Boys Central Regional Championship Game at the Dunn-Oliver Academe on the campus of Alabama State University.

The turning point in the game came at the 7:27 mark of fourth quarter with Keith leading 46-37. A technical foul was assessed to Keith. Over the next three minutes, the Bobcats erased that lead and tied the game at 50-50 and then made the plays down the stretch to get the win.

Keith head coach Marcus Turner said his team lost their composure down the stretch.

“We just got undisciplined,” Turner said. “We were up 11, and then we committed a technical foul. We went into a downward spiral from there.”

The Bears ended the season with a 13-16 record while R.C. Hatch’s boys joined their girls’ team in earning a trip to the Final Four in Birmingham.

Turner said that despite the disappointment, he was proud of the Bears’ fight to get back to regionals. He also gave credit to senior Jason Moseley who led the Bears with 15 points on five 3-pointers against Hatch.

“I’m very proud of the, the fight we had,” Turner said. “We tell him, nothing’s gonna be given to you. You have to work for everything you do. And I just gotta give credit to my senior Jason Moseley. He worked his butt off, and his all-tournament team was very well deserved that he got, and I told the guys it should leave a bitter taste in your mouth because you had three people on the all-tournament team, and the losing team had two. Not taking anything away from R.C. Hatch, but that should let you know that we kind of gave it away.”

The game was one of the most highly contested matchups of the regional finals. It featured 15 lead changes and eight ties.

Keith stuck to its game plan through the first three quarters. They stayed patient and got good looks, inside and out. The Bears led by as many as four in the first quarter, but the Bobcats held a 20-17 at the end of the quarter.

Keith continued to play well matching the Bobcats blow for blow in the second quarter, as the game was tied at halftime 29-29.

The Bears came out executing after halftime. They started the half on a 7-0 run to go up 36-29 to force a timeout. The Bobcats cut the lead back to 36-33, but the Bears ended the quarter on a 10-2 run. Titus Lanier found Jarius Sanders multiple times wide open under the basket for easy lay-ups and a dunk.

The Bears seemed to be in control up 46-35 at the end of the third quarter.

However, things changed with the technical foul. After Keith initially survived the technical foul and led 50-40, the Bobcats went on a 12-0 run to take a 52-50 lead.

Lanier answered with a put-back to put Keith up 53-52. After Hatch made two more free throws, Miles Hannah hit another lay-up to put Keith back ahead.

However, Merion Jones made an and-1 basket that gave Hatch a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. And another technical foul sealed the win despite Hannah making a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Sanders finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Lanier had 13 points and six assists while Hannah had 13 points and six rebounds. Eric Hall also had six points and seven rebounds.

Hatch also made 12 of 19 free throws in the fourth quarter while Keith made two of four free throws in the period.

“We had a game playing and we were going into the game and it was working,” Turner said. “So everybody was listening. We were doing what we need to do and the scoreboard reflected that. Having seven seniors, you know, it’s kind of hard for them. I feel bad for them because we really wanted this game.”