Sparkman trailed Grissom by double digits in the fourth quarter, but the Senators kept battling.

Their persistence paid off when Karmelo Montgomery hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Montgomery’s fifth 3-pointer gave Sparkman a 50-49 win in the nightcap at the Class 7A, Area 7 tournament at Huntsville High. He finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.

“My teammates trusted me,” the senior 6-5 power forward said. “I just made the play.”

After Grissom missed two free throws with nine seconds left, Montgomery got the defensive rebound and passed to Chase Jackson, who brought the ball across half court. He passed to Will Hawkins who dished it to Montgomery. Montgomery released the winning 35-footer with less than a second left.

“I saw my brother open and so I just passed it to him,” Hawkins, a senior 6-4 shooting guard, said. “I knew he was going to hit it.”

Trayton Berger had 10 points and Cameron Jones had nine for Sparkman (20-11). Jackson and Hawkins made three assists apiece.

“It’s all about our guys never giving up and not quitting,” Senators coach Jamie Coggins said. “We kept telling them during our timeouts (to not give up) because we were trying to put them into position where we could possibly win this game. And you got to give all the credit to the players because they were the ones who stepped up and made plays on both ends of the floor.”

Grissom led 24-22 at halftime and 38-28 after three quarters.

Izzy Miles had 13 points, three assists and two steals as the No. 5-ranked Tigers finished at 21-9. Justin McCall, RJ Johnson and DJ Thompson had nine points apiece.

“Give Sparkman credit,” Grissom coach Jack Doss said. “They made the free throws and came back. Coach Coggins did a great job. And just give kudos to Sparkman.”

Sparkman will play host Huntsville for the area championship Friday night.

Huntsville 64, Albertville 42

Brayden Rivers scored 14 points for the Class 7A No. 3-ranked Panthers in the tournament opener.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore wing also had five rebounds for host Huntsville (22-8). JaMari Arnold had 11 points and Josh Bowman added 10. Caleb Harrison had eight points and eight rebounds.

“Just trusting my teammates,” Rivers said. “We knew we had the height advantage so we crashed the boards with reckless abandon and got easy baskets around the rim.”

The Panthers led 28-14 at halftime and 45-21 after three quarters.

What was the key for the Panthers?

“I thought our defensive effort in the full court,” Huntsville coach Christian Schweers said. “Full court defensive pressure was the difference.”

Conner Lowery and Jon Wesley Seay each scored nine points as Albertville finished at 13-16. They had four rebounds apiece for the Aggies.