Tanner's J.J. Jones drives to the basket for a layup during Saturday night's Class 2A, Area 16 tournament championship game. Jones scored 21 points in the Rattlers' 61-59 win.

A last-second shot looked like it might sink Tanner in Saturday night’s Class 2A, Area 16 tournament championship game, but the Rattlers recovered from the shock of blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to regain the momentum and pull a 61-59 overtime victory over Sheffield.

“I’m really glad to win that game,” Tanner coach Chris Whitt said. “It was huge for us. We had no momentum going into overtime, but we got it right back at the start (of overtime). That’s the good thing about basketball. It’s a momentum game. And we got that momentum back when we needed to.”

Tanner looked like it would cruising to the victory for most of the game. The Rattlers led 32-22 at halftime and expanded the lead to 41-28 after three quarters.

However, Sheffield turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and forced numerous Tanner turnovers, which the Bulldogs turned into transition baskets.

A flurry of points pulled Sheffield close, and a free throw by Rodney Goodman tied the game at 51 with 1:38 remaining.

Tanner took the lead on a basket by Malik Atkins with 56 seconds left, but one Sheffield free throw made it a one-point game with 29 seconds left.

Tanner turned the ball over on its next possession, but a missed shot by Sheffield led to a Tanner runout, which Skylar Townsend converted with a layup with 10.9 seconds left to put the Rattlers up 55-52.

Sheffield called a timeout to draw up their final play, which worked to perfection. The Bulldogs got the ball to Goodman, who nailed a 3-pointer with 1 second remaining to tie the score. Tanner coach Chris Whitt wanted his players to foul Sheffield before a shot was attempted, in order to put the Bulldogs on the free throw line for two shots, but the Rattlers didn’t, allowing Goodman to tie the game with a three-pointer.

“We were supposed to foul in regulation when we were up three. That’s just a general rule,” Whitt said. “They know that; we just didn’t do it. We were just afraid to foul.”

Despite Sheffield seeming to have all the momentum, it was Tanner that grabbed the early overtime lead. A basket by Jared Cruz and a free throw by J.J. Jones gave the Rattlers a three-point lead.

Sheffield came back and tied the score at 58 on a free throw by Treveon Williams with 58 seconds left, but Tanner retook the lead with 33 seconds remaining on a basket by Atkins.

Sheffield failed to score on its next possession, and Jones was then fouled hard while going up for a shot. He was unable to shoot the free throws, which forced Trevor King to come in cold off the bench and shoot with 12 seconds left.

Despite not having played in the game to that point, King nailed the first free throw to give Tanner a three-point lead. He missed the second, and Sheffield got the rebound, but this time, the Rattlers did foul before the Bulldogs got off a shot, putting Goodman at the line with 2.8 seconds left.

Goodman made the first and intentionally missed the second to try to allow his teammates to get an offensive rebound. However, the ball was tipped around, and by the time a Sheffield player was able to control it, the final buzzer sounded.

Jones led Tanner with 21 points, while Atkins scored 20.

“We fouled in overtime, and it paid off,” Whitt said. “It’s still a scary situation. We haven’t been playing very well lately, so for them to come out tonight and play the way they did was good to see. We had a big lead, and gave it up, but somehow they came through for me and I appreciate it.”

Tanner will host Area 13 runner-up Sulligent in the subregional game Tuesday night.

A win would send the Rattlers to the Northwest Regional tournament for the 21^st consecutive year.