Highland Home junior Jakaleb Faulk is committed to play football at Auburn with older brother Keldric when he graduates.

However, his first love was basketball. He showed why again Tuesday afternoon.

Faulk had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Flying Squadron whipped Clarke County 51-33 to win the Class 2A South Regional at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum.

“I actually wanted to play basketball instead of football, but football just took over,” he said after the win. “But I still have that love for the game.”

RELATED: See Tuesday’s statewide scores, highlights

Faulk and the Squadron will be making their second trip in three years to Birmingham for the final four. They lost to Mars Hill 64-62 in the semifinals in 2022. This year, they will play either LaFayette or Gaston at 7:30 Monday night. Those two teams will decide the Northeast champion Wednesday.

“It’s not that big (just to make it to Birmingham) honestly,” Faulk said. “We’ve been before, and we are trying to make it a step or two further and get a blue trophy.”

Highland Home (20-7) had little problem punching its ticket Tuesday. The Flying Squadron led 16-7 after one quarter and 31-12 at the half. The team pushed the lead to as many as 26, 42-16, on Faulk’s putback with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

“He’s a leader,” Highland Home coach Justin Cope said. “He’s one of the best. He keeps everyone in check. He plays his butt off. He does what he has to do. He’s a special kid.”

Clarke County (16-14) used a 15-1 run to trim the lead to 12 on Terrance Weaver’s 3-pointer with 5:16 left in regulation. He led the Bulldogs with 13 points. The Flying Squadron took a timeout to slow the momentum.

“Composure,” Cope said. “At this time of year, no team is going to give it to you. You can’t get relaxed or complacent. They had to fight back. That’s part of it this time of year. Every team is battling for the same thing. We knew they wouldn’t go down easy. From here on out, no team will go down easy. But one thing about these boys is, they are going to fight.”

Following the timeout, Highland Home finished the game on a 8-2 run to close out the victory. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Faulk never doubted his team, even trying to calm his mother down in the stands at one point.

“She is really into basketball because she was a very good player in her day,” he said. “She pushes me to be the best in any sport. I was just trying to tell her to calm down a little bit, that we had it.”

Brice McKenzie followed Faulk with 14 points. CJ May had 10 rebounds to go along with 7 points. Faulk also was credited with three steals. His team outrebounded the smaller Bulldogs 46-33.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Cope said. “These kids definitely deserve it. They’ve worked hard since Day 1. A lot of these kids had this dream when they were in eighth grade. They had great coaches who pushed them. To see them work hard to establish that dream and get a chance to earn a state championship is a wonderful feeling.”

As for football, Faulk said he facetimed Auburn defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin on Monday night.

“We were just talking it up and trying to build a good relationship,” he said. “I’m excited to get there.”