One reigning state champion down and one more to go before the Plainview Bears can reach their ultimate goal.

In Tuesday’s Class 4A boys semifinals, No. 2 Plainview toughed out a 51-42 win over No. 1 Fairfield, winners of the 5A state title last year before reclassification moved the Tigers to Class 4A.

Next up for Plainview is a date with reigning 4A state champion Jackson on Friday at 5:45 p.m. The Aggies (22-4) survived a scare against Brooks in their semifinal, winning 37-34.

Plainview (29-6) won by 9, which was the largest cushion of the game. The Bears led 26-20 at the half. Fairfield was held to 20 percent shooting in the half but made 11-of-12 free throws to keep it close.

The Tigers (30-5) closed the gap to 2 points early in the fourth quarter but never drew even. Plainview was stellar from the free-throw line down the stretch, finishing with 16 makes on 18 attempts.

“I believe in every one of these guys,” said Plainview coach Cade Willingham, who was a player for the Bears when they won the 3A title in 2018.

Star of the game: Junior guard Sawyer Wilborn was clutch for the Bears. He finished with 15 points, including going 6-for-6 on free throws in the final 1:14. “It’s really just a confidence thing,” Wilborn said. “When I step to the line, I just tell myself, ‘I ain’t missing.’”

That attitude began on his driveway shooting free throws with his dad. The tradition of coming through in the clutch goes back almost a decade.

“I remember there was a time in third grade when I had to make free throws to win the game at the end,” Wilborn said. “I made them, just like in my driveway.”

Stat sheet: Fairfield was led by Milton Jones with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Jeffery Duncan scored 11. DeMarcus Williams led the Tigers – who outrebounded Plainview 27-23 – with 7 boards. For Plainview, sophomore Grant Nickleson scored 14 to join Wilborn in double figures. Cy Traylor’s 6 rebounds led the Bears. Plainview made 45.7 percent of its shots from the floor while holding Fairfield to 28.6 percent shooting.

Coachspeak: “It’s definitely going to be a tough battle. They’re the 4A state champions. We know they’re winners. We’ll prepare and be ready to play for a state championship.” – Plainview’s Willingham on facing Jackson for the state championship

“I’m proud of the guys. They worked hard every day. It wasn’t the end result we wanted, but we are going to keep working. We knew they were going to shoot the 3. I think what hurt us was we really couldn’t get any offensive rhythm. They switch everything. I’ve been preaching all week to our guys that someone had to step up and make a few jump shots. I knew they couldn’t stay in front of us off the bounce. We were trying to get them to switch big-to-little, but then we would get in the lane and we would miss them. We missed a lot of shots early around the basket and now you are playing from behind and you are scrambling.” – Fairfield coach Maurice Ford

Did you know? The leading scorer for Fairhope’s 1949 basketball team was Willie Mays, who also starred in football and went on to become what many the greatest baseball player of all-time.

Did you know, Part 2? Former Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt is a graduate of Plainview High School. He played for his father, Dale, who is still the head football coach at the school.