Haley Benford hit a shot with 3.7 seconds left to lift Tanner to a 38-36 victory over West Limestone in the semifinals of the Limestone County girls tournament Thursday night.

Benford’s shot capped off a back-and-forth game in which neither team led by more than three points and gave the fifth-seeded Rattlers a huge upset victory over the No. 1 seed Wildcats, which had defeated Tanner handily in both of their regular season matchups.

The game was tied 9-9 at the end of the first quarter and Tanner held a 18-17 halftime lead. The Rattlers maintained the one-point edge in the third quarter and took a 28-17 advantage into the fourth.

The two teams traded the lead several times in the fourth quarter. Cassidy Winter gave the Wildcats a 34-32 lead with 3:35 left, but two free throws by Shauna Fletcher tied the score again.

West took its final lead of the game with 1:30 left on two free throws by Caroline Bachus, but Tanner answered 10 seconds later with a Fletcher basket.

After West missed a shot on its next possession, Tanner got the rebound and called timeout to set up their final offensive play.

After passing the ball around the perimeter, Benford was able to catch the ball on the wing, turn the corner and drive straight down the lane toward the basket. She put up a floater from about 10 feet which fell through the basket with seconds remaining.

Winter’s half-court shot at the buzzer fell short, and Tanner had its upset victory and a date against either East Limestone or Ardmore in Saturday afternoon’s championship game.

Benford led Tanner with 11 points, while Fletcher and Jayla Walton each scored 10 for the Rattlers.

West Limestone was led by Bachus with a game-high 20 points.

Boys

East Limestone 69, Elkmont 40

East Limestone dominated the final 12 minutes to turn a relatively close game into a blowout win over Elkmont in the semifinals of the Limestone County boys tournament.

The Indians had a 35-20 lead at halftime and expanded it to 38-20 early in the third quarter. However, fourth-seeded Elkmont made a run to cut the Indians lead to 40-31 with four minutes left in the third.

But East took over from there, outscoring Elkmont 29-9 over the final quarter and a half to pull away and take the comfortable win.

Austin Harvell led East Limestone with 19 points, while Dezmon Jefferson added 12 and R.J. Duncan chipped in with 10.

Elkmont was led by Layton Smith with 11 points.

East Limestone is the tournament’s No. 1 seed and will play either No. 2 seed Tanner or third-seeded West Limestone in Saturday night’s championship game.