Mountain Brook held the lead, but Carver-Montgomery had the momentum.

Carver’s Zander Frazier unleashed a monster dunk and followed with a 3-pointer to cut the Mountain Brook lead to just one with 2:45 to go before a timeout halted the action in Wednesday’s Class 6A state semifinal at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.

Out of the timeout, the Spartans (27-7) inbounded the ball to 6-foot-6 senior Hentry Hufham, who appeared to make a dribble handoff to leading scorer Ty Davis. But as two Carver defenders converged to trap Davis, Hufham faked the handoff, dribbled to the basket and made an uncontested layup with 1:46 to go.

“It was coach’s call,” Hufham said, “so full credit to him.”

Hufham’s layp proved to be the turning point in the Spartans’ 46-43 victory over Carver.

“That play kind of hurts,” Carver coach Reginald Sprouse said of Hufham’s wide-open layup.

Mountain Brook coach Tyler Davis credited Hufham for executing the play perfectly. “It opened up a great opportunity for Huf, and he finished the play,” he said.

The two teams played a frantic and error-filled final minute, combining to miss 11 free throws in the final 46.6 seconds. Ty Davis made a heads-up foul to prevent Carver from attempting a game-tying 3-pointer and then fouled out, and Carver squandered a chance to tie the game with two free throws.

Mountain Brook advances to play Buckhorn in Saturday’s championship game. It’s a rematch of last year’s title game, won by Buckhorn.

Final minute: After Mountain Brook’s Ty Davis missed two free throws with 11.8 seconds to go, Carver-Montgomery hustled into the front court with a chance to tie. Davis, however, fouled Carver’s Conor McPherson before he could launch a game-tying 3-pointer.

McPherson made his first free throw with 5.2 seconds to go to make it 45-43, but he missed the second. The 6-foot-3 senior then rebounded his miss and drew a foul from Davis on his putback attempt with 3.1 seconds remaining.

McPherson missed both free throws, and Mountain Brook’s Hufham rebounded the miss and got fouled. He made 1-of-2 free throws with 1.6 seconds to go for the final score of 46-43.

“Hat’s off to Henry for that rebound to seal the deal,” Ty Davis said.

Coachspeak: “Survive and advance is the name of the game. It wasn’t our cleanest game, but we play on Saturday.” — Mountain Brook coach Tyler Davis

Stat sheet: Ty Davis led Mountain Brook with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, while Carson Romero scored 7 points. McPherson paced Carver with 14 points, while Landon Parker, Amarian Griffin and Zander Frazier had 7 points apiece. Frazier and McPherson had 12 rebounds apiece.

He said it: “We’re going to be back next year in 7A.” — Frazier, referring to Carver consolidating with Sidney Lanier High and moving up to 7A.

What’s next? Mountain Brook plays Buckhorn on Saturday at 2:15 p.m., in the Class 6A title game. Mountain Brook players said they’re looking forward to playing Buckhorn in the championship game for the second straight season. “I’m really excited to go against them,” Ty Davis said.