When Fairhope cut Florence’s lead to five points early in the fourth quarter, coach Ralph Watson was optimistic about his team’s chance.

But there was one problem.

One big problem.

Florence’s 6-foot-7 Jalen Chandler scored 17 of his game-high 41 points in the fourth quarter as the Falcons pulled away for a 74-62 victory in the Class 7A state semifinals Thursday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

“He’s a beast,” Watson said.

Chandler, who transferred to Florence after playing in a pair of final fours for 1A Covenant Christian, was 15-of-25 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. He also had 10 rebounds and 4 steals.

“It’s my fifth time playing here,” Chandler said. “Some people call it home for me. I don’t want to be cocky or anything, but I feel comfortable here. It’s just a normal court. I just go out and hoop and trust my guys and my coaches.”

The Falcons (27-7) will play No. 1 Hoover in the Class 7A title game on Saturday. Fairhope finished 24-7.

RELATED: Chandler proves his talent in 7A

“It feels really good to play the last game of the season,” Florence coach Dylan Burleson said. “It’s something we’ve talked about, worked for, said since the last week of November. Now, we are here and have to do something with it.”

Florence led 35-30 at the half on Thursday and quickly expanded the margin to 48-33 with a 13-3 run to open the third quarter. Chandler scored eight points in the run, including a pair of dunks. He had six dunks on the day.

“We knew Fairhope liked to run and press and shoot 3s,” Burleson said. “We thought if we played off one another and got high percentage looks, we would be in good shape.”

Fairhope responded to the Florence run with one of its own. The Pirates finished the quarter on a 15-6 spurt to close within 54-46 heading to the fourth quarter. They closed to within five twice in the early minutes, the final time at 58-53 on Reece Olmstead’s layup.

“When we cut it to 58-53, I felt the momentum shifting,” Watson said. “Because we can shoot the ball, we always have a chance. But we never got into a great rhythm like we are capable of doing. That’s a tribute to them. But, when we made that run, I felt really good. Even when we got down eight, I knew we had been there before, but there were a few possessions that got away from us.”

And Chandler took over.

The senior scored seven points in an 11-0 Florence run to put Fairhope away for good. His dunk capped the run and gave the Falcons a 68-53 edge.

“The more they continued to press, we were going to take advantage of it and get high percentage looks,” Burleson said. “Jalen had a really good night. We knew Fairhope gives up about a 40 percent rate on offensive rebounds, and we tried to punish them there. We had 19 offensive rebounds. Extra possessions can go a long way.”

Stat sheet: Florence – Jamarrion Reeder added 10 points. Jaylen Blackwell had 9 points and 6 rebounds. Bryant James had 8 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Fairhope – Jackson Gulley had 21 points and 8 rebounds. Jaden Champion followed with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Olmstead added 9 points.

By the numbers: Florence was 26-of-64 from the field, 5-of-19 from 3 and 17-of-21 from the foul line. The Falcons outrebounded the smaller Pirates 42-31. Fairhope was 24-of-55 from the field, 8-of-24 from 3 and 6-of-9 from the foul line. Florence had a 23-8 edge in second chance points.

Did you know? Florence will be trying for its first AHSAA boys basketball title on Saturday.