Central-Phenix City led by as many as 17 points in the second half of Wednesday’s Class 7A Central Regional boys final before holding off a furious fourth-quarter rally by No. 4 Fairhope for a 53-46 victory at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham.

The win earns the Red Devils a trip to the final four at Legacy Arena next week.

“We knew we weren’t going to run away with the game,” Central coach Charles Burkett said. “I didn’t how it was going to unfold, but I never lost confidence in us winning the game. It was very rewarding for us to go through it, and these guys get a chance to play it and live it.

The Red Devils led 42-25 on Jacoby Hill’s jumper with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Hill, the tournament MVP, finished 25 points and 11 rebounds. However, the Pirates outscored Central 17-1 over the final minutes of the third quarter and opening minutes of the fourth.

Fairhope cut the Red Devil lead to just 43-42 on McRae Tual’s free throws with 2:30 left in the game.

“Well, Fairhope is a good team,” Burkett said. “We said at halftime, Fairhope is not going to quit. We’re experienced. We played 25 games in the summer, 32 games so far this year. As far as I’m concerned, they’re veterans now.”

The Pirates got no closer. Hill’s tip-in with 2:02 left and Que Billingsley’s basket with 1:29 on the block gave Central the breathing room it needed.

“During the offseason, I tried to get the guys more involved in the game. I didn’t do too much of that last year,” Billingsley said. “I wanted to work on myself and get them more involved, so I worked on that a lot this year, and we are here now.”

Star of the Game: Hill was 9-of-18 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

Stat sheet: Central-Phenix City – Billingsley finished with nine points and three assists. Willie Townsend had eight points. Fairhope – Spence Sims scored 17 points and recorded four rebounds and two steals. Taul scored 14 points and registered seven rebounds and two rebounds.

By the numbers: Central shot 45.5 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc. Fairhope shot 42.5 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from deep.

They said it: “Que is obviously the quarterback of the team. He signed a football scholarship for Kennesaw State University. He doesn’t have to be here. He here for the love of the game.” – Burkett.

Next up: Central-Phenix City will plain Spain Park in the 7A semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Thursday