Confidence is a funny thing.

It can give you the courage to do many things and most in the face of insurmountable odds.

Entering its regional final matchup with arguably the best team in the land, the Buckhorn boys basketball team held was without fear.

No distress. No dread. Not even the slightest bit of trepidation.

The fourth-ranked Bucks never blinked and never trailed as they powered to a 51-41 upset victory over undefeated No. 1 Pinson Valley in Wednesday’s Class 6A Northwest Regional final at Wallace-Hanceville’s Tom Drake Coliseum.

“Wow, what a game,” Buckhorn coach Patrick Harding said. “We were confident and that’s a strange feeling against a 29-0 team. We felt like if we played defense and rebounded like we have played in the last month that we’re hard to beat. Guys did an incredible job on the defensive end with their effort and rebounding against a really talented, really tough Pinson Valley team.”

Buckhorn (25-8) opened the game in dagger-like fashion, Jeremiah Wilson draining a 3-pointer in the first minute of action, and never trailed after surging ahead on a 7-0 run to pull away from a 5-4 lead at the 5:10 mark of the first frame. The Indians cut the lead down to four points late but Caleb Holt bookended the period with his only 3-pointer of the game.

The Bucks withstood two early buckets from Pinson Valley in the second period and closed out the half with a 6-0 run to take a 25-12 lead into the halftime break.

Pinson Valley’s Clyde Walters, a freshman, entered the game logging multiple double-doubles but was held to only two points and three rebounds in the first half and four points and eight rebounds in the game.

“He’s a very good player, a very talented player,” Harding said. “We happen to have two guys that have good size like that as well. The way we defended is we try to defend as a group, not just an individual assigned to shut someone down. We switch a lot and try to funnel or push people to where the help is. We felt like we had a good plan for that and did a great job collectively on Clyde (Walters).”

The Indians put together a solid effort to open the second half, scoring on a Terry Coner Jr. layup in the first two minutes and pulled to within six points on an 11-2 run powered by consecutive 3-pointers from Amari Bowens and Caleb White. Buckhorn’s Terrence Robinson and Austin Childress countered with back-to-back buckets to quell the run and Coner scored with 34 seconds left as Buckhorn took a 35-27 lead into the final frame.

“I don’t think I’ve had a longer second half in my life holding those guys off,” Harding said. “I look up and the clock has run 20 or 30 seconds every time I look. The thing about getting a lead, these guys do a good job against full-court pressure. We passed the ball well and finished on the other end.”

White and Coner both scored early in the fourth period but the Bucks countered with 4-0 spurts each time and never allowed Pinson Valley (29-1) to come within less than eight points in the final three minutes.

“We’ll celebrate tonight,” Robinson said. “But then it’s time to get back to practice and go to work for the next game.”

Holt echoed his upperclassman’s sentiments, opting to focus on the task ahead rather than rest on the laurels of sending an undefeated team home in a regional final matchup.

“We got to get back to work tomorrow and keep grinding and grinding,” he said.

Did you know? Buckhorn advances to its first state tournament since 2006, its sixth appearance overall. The Bucks won state titles in 1991 and 1995. Meanwhile, Pinson Valley fails to advance past the regional round for a fourth straight year after winning its only state title in boys basketball in 2019.

By the numbers: The Bucks finished shooting 50 percent overall, held a plus-6 edge in rebounding and forced 12 turnovers that resulted in 11 points. The Indians were held to a lowly 30.4 percent overall, an even more dismal 8.3 percent from 3-point range, and never led in coming as close as a single possession midway through the first period.

Stat sheet: Buckhorn – Holt and Robinson scored 14 points each and combined for 13 rebounds, the former adding six assists and four steals. Childress finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Jeremiah Wilson had five points and five boards. Pinson Valley – Coner led the Indians with a game-high 16 points, along with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, and White finished with 14 points and three steals. Bowen had five points and five rebounds and Austin Coner contributed seven rebounds and two blocks.

Coachspeak: “I’m so proud of these kids. We’ve come a long way this year. This thing is not a storybook. It’s not something we come out of the gates looking like state champs. We’ve gotten better each month and we’ve gotten closer each month. For that, I’m very proud.” — Buckhorn’s Patrick Harding

“Obviously they wanted it more than we did. We didn’t perform well and kudos to Buckhorn. Pride, have pride about yourself on the defensive end of the floor, which we didn’t do a good job of. Everybody knows it’s hard to get to this point. A lot of blood, sweat and tears, and sacrifices to make it to the final eight teams left.” — Pinson Valley’s Darrell Barber

They said it: “It’s pretty big. I don’t pay a lot of attention to social media but I take it as fuel. Coming into this game, it feels like we had everybody against us and it lit a fire inside. We got to win this and it feels good to win.” — Holt

“It’s exciting to beat the number one team in the state and be their first loss.” — Robinson

“The bond we had at the beginning of the season and how hard we worked in practice.” — Pinson Valley’s Coner on what he’ll remember from this season

What’s next? Buckhorn advances to face McGill-Toolen at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday in the state semifinal at BJCC’s Legacy Arena.