The Demopolis High School boys’ basketball team used a 13-3 run to tie their game against Selma at 55-55 with 1:17 left in the game, but a buzzer shot by Anthony Hardy rimmed out, and Selma went home with a 59-57 win.

The Tigers trailed by as many as 11 points a number of times, as the Saints got out to a 28-17 lead late in the second quarter before settling in to a 28-20 halftime lead.

That margin held true through the third quarter, and Selma took a 42-32 lead on a layup by Junkin Harris with 5:10 left in regulation.

That’s when Demopolis picked up the pace. The Tigers went on a 13-3 run over the next 2:52, going 4-for-5 from the floor in that time and hitting four of their six free-throw attempts, holding the Saint to an 0-for-1 showing from the field, making three of their five free-throw tries in that time.

Trailing 55-51, Demopolis knotted the game when Hardy hit a jumper on a feed from Jonathan Marshall with 1:5 left on the clock, then Jeremy Wallace hit two big free throws with 1:17 left to tie the game for the first time, 55-55.Selma’s Windell Lewis hit a layup with 48 seconds left to give the Saints a 57-55 lead, but Hardy made two shots from the line to tie the game at 57-57 with 37.7 seconds remaining.

A steal by Larry Cobb with 30 seconds left gave Tiger fans hope, and after a DHS timeout, Hardy shot a layup that missed, blocked by Lewis, but going out of bounds to the Tigers.

DeAngelo Norris got a steal for the Saints, then Justin Ravizee knocked down the game-winning jumper on a feed from Harris with seven seconds remaining.

Demopolis worked the ball up the floor, setting up a final shot from Hardy, but it fell away, and the Saints took the game 57-55.

“We got some good shots, but they’d go in and out,” said DHS head coach Jesse Bell. “They’d get a long rebound, and we couldn’t rotate back in time, and they made their shots at the other end.

“We figured, if we kept it within nine or 10 points, we’d have a chance. Once we started scoring, we could press, and they couldn’t handle the press real well. We weathered the storm, and we got some shots to fall.

“We found some isolation,” he said. “Anthony Hardy did a great job attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line. Once you stop the clock, you’ve got a chance to set your press up. That was the key, right there.”

Demopolis was led by Hardy’s 20 points, as he went 6-for-13 in the second half from the floor and 7-for-8 for the game from the line. He also had a game-high 14 rebounds to go with two blocked shots.

Marshall added 13 points and five rebounds for the Tigers, while Fred Irby added nine points and Cobb had eight.

Selma was paced by Norris and Ravizee, who each had 22 points. Norris was 4-for-5 from three-point range and had six rebounds, while Ravizee was 6-for-7 from the line. Jamie King added nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field, and Lewis had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Saints.

SELMA (59)—Duprice Rivers 3-5 2-4 8, DeAngelo Norris 7-10 0-1 18, Justin Ravizee 5-15 6-7 18, St. Louis Spears 0-3 0-1 0, Windell 2-4 1-2 5, Jamie King 4-5 1-3 9, Charles Eaton 1-2 0-0 2. Total 22-44 10-18 59.

Rebounds—39 (Lewis 11). Assists 6 (Ravizee 2). Steals—4 (four with 1).

DEMOPOLIS (57)—Jeremy Wallace 1-7 3-4 5, Fred Irby 3-9 2-2 9, Anthony Hardy 6-19 7-8 20, Jonathan Marshall 5-13 0-2 13, Michael Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Larry Cobb 3-5 0-0 8, Rick Boone 0-0 0-0 0, Alphonso Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Total 19-58 12-16 57.

Rebounds—31 (Hardy 14). Assists—10 (Marshall 3). Steals—8 (Marshall 4).