HANCEVILLE — DaQuaylon Malone sank a layup off an Elyjah Jones assist with 2.1 seconds left to propel Tanner’s varsity boys to a 53-51 victory versus Red Bay in the Class 2A Northwest Regional Tournament on Tuesday.

The Rattlers dug themselves a double-digit hole in the second stanza but closed the first half on a 9-3 run to stay within striking distance of the Tigers. They then put together another good spurt — this one coming after falling behind by seven — in the third quarter to tie things at 37 with eight minutes left.

And what a fourth quarter it turned out to be.

Both teams traded blows throughout, but following a missed 3-pointer by Red Bay with just 22 seconds remaining, Tanner found itself with a chance to turn out the lights.

That’s exactly what Jones and Malone did.

The former drove inside and drew the defense before making a quick pass to Malone, who kissed the ball off the glass for the lead and eventual game-winning bucket.

Red Bay’s desperation shot as time expired missed its mark.

Tanner will play Decatur Heritage for a spot in the Final Four on Monday at 10:45 a.m.

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Coach Speak

“I count on these guys so much to do the right thing, because they make me look so good. They’ve got the ball, there’s eight seconds left, and I decide we’re not going to call a timeout — let’s let it ride. They made the play and found the open teammate. Our bench was big tonight. They played well. They made not play a bunch of minutes, but when they come in, they play really hard. They helped get us back into the game and helped us win it.” — Kyle Owens

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Player Speak

“I saw a bunch of guys come in on me and I was like, ‘Let’s see if I can find an open teammate.’ I saw Ping (Malone) and trust him a lot — I trust all my teammates a lot — but he was there and he got the bucket. I’m proud of him.” — Elyjah Jones

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Top Scorers

DaQuaylon Malone (16), Elyjah Jones (15), Cade Dorning (11), Matthew Fletcher (6)

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Record

Tanner: 15-14