Covenant Christian clamped down on Florala defensively in the Class 1A boys semifinals and earned a shot at another state championship in the process.

The Eagles held Florala to just 25 percent shooting and never trailed Monday morning in rolling to a 47-26 victory at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.

Covenant (30-3) will play for its second straight title at 5:45 p.m. Thursday.

RELATED: Live updates from Monday’s games

“It’s special every time,” Eagles coach Bret Waldrep said. “I’m really happy for these guys. We have four seniors on this team who were juniors last year and were good role players. They are really important for our program and have been for a long time.

“This is a new year and a new team. I don’t know if we ever thought we would get here (to the final) one time. Well, I can say for certain we didn’t think we would get here one time so to do it a second time is really special.”

Covenant scored the first eight points of the game, led 25-11 at the half and 38-15 entering the final quarter. The Eagles had a 22-10 advantage in points in the paint, a 14-4 advantage on points off turnovers and an 11-2 edge in fastbreak points.

“I’m really proud of the way we played, especially defensively,” Waldrep said. “That was our strength today. Florala is physical and athletic on defense. I knew it would be a grind for us offensively. We were fairly efficient overall, but I was just really proud of how we played defensively. If we can do that (Thursday), we’ll have a chance.”

Florala finished 23-8 overall. The Wildcats were able to win their regional the week after Florala principal Travis “Max” Whittaker died unexpectedly three days before his 59th birthday.

“The team is really still in shock,” Florala coach Troy Turman said. “It’s just been tough. I’m sure when we get back home, it will all kind of sink in. I think basketball has helped the players deal with it. They gave an outstanding effort through it all. Today, the effort wasn’t what we needed, but there has just been a lot of adversity. We are a young team. Hopefully, we will be hungry to get back again.”

Turman said the Wildcats’ offense was hurt Monday by regional injuries to Elijah McMeans and Christian Greasham.

Star of the game: Jalen Chandler finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals for Covenant. He was 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. He scored seven points during his team’s 13-4 third quarter that put the game out of reach.

Stat sheet: Covenant – Trey Kellogg had 12 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Andrew Brackin had nine points and two steals. Regan Lawson had eight points. Florala – Greasham led the way with 10 points and five rebounds, but foul trouble limited his minutes. Rayshon Coleman and Dalton Jackson had eight points each. Jackson also had seven rebounds.

By the numbers: Covenant shot 47 percent from the field (17-of-36) and 40 percent from 3-point range (6-of-15). Florala was 0-of-10 from 3-point range.

They said it:

“The thing that has been the most fun this year has been watching this group come together. The first two or three games we were turning it over a lot. No one seemed to know where the ball was going. But there was no finger pointing or getting on each other. This group has been content to play whatever role is best. If you have kids who can do that – and we have 10 of them – you can be successful.” – Waldrep.

“It was cool to be a part of the team last year and be able to practice with the guys. Now, it’s surreal to actually be out on the floor and be a part of what the team is doing.” – Brackin.

“He brought all the players into his office before he passed. He said he could have retired already, but he wanted to go out with us because he believed in us. That helped motivate our team.” – Jackson on Whittaker’s death.

Next up: Covenant Christian will play either Autaugaville or Oakwood Academy for the championship at 5:45 p.m. Thursday.