A season coach Dale Taylor acknowledged included both good moments and disappointments for Tanner boys basketball ended with a mix of both Tuesday.

But after a competitive first half against top-ranked Mars Hill Bible, the No. 7 Rattlers couldn’t keep up and dropped a second straight Class 2A Northwest Regional final to the Panthers, 82-56.

“They got hot and hit some 3s, and we kind of forced up some shots that probably weren’t our best looks,” Taylor said.

The loss prevented Tanner (18-8) from reaching the state tournament, which would have been further confirmation of the program’s recent growth.

The Rattlers are historically regulars at the regional and have won three state championships, the last coming in 2013, and they’ve been working to re-establish that level of success.

“We’ve got high expectations, which is a good thing,” Taylor said. “You want people to push you as far as you can go. … At Tanner, we don’t hang banners for Elite 8s.”

Tailan Hall led the Rattlers with 14 points Tuesday. Skylar Townsend added 13 and Matthew Fletcher 10.

The Rattlers matched Mars Hill with 15 points in the second quarter and trailed 36-28 at halftime, and Taylor thought the team was in a good position to be competitive.

But Mars Hill pulled away for good in the third quarter with 29 points. Mars Hill shot nearly 50 percent for the game and out-rebounded Tanner 52-30.

“We couldn’t match it,” Taylor said. “It seemed every loose ball ended up in their hands.”

Carson Thrasher led all scorers with 27 points, including five 3-pointers. Three other Panthers were in double figures. Taylor noted of Mars Hill’s two losses this year, one was early in the season as football wrapped up and the other was a narrow loss to 4A regional finalist Deshler.

Fletcher, Endymion Tyus, Elyjah Jones, Blake Jackson and Cade Dorning are among the returnees who should play key roles for Tanner next season. Tyus has made the All-Regional Tournament Team the past two seasons.

Hall, Townsend, Karl Parham, Tre’J Lett and Darrell Howard, meanwhile, will graduate.

“We had a solid season,” Taylor said. “ … Just proud of these guys to get us back to this point.”