Just minutes after his team’s 55-52 upset win over top-ranked Huntsville in the Class 7A state semifinals, Enterprise coach Rhett Harrelson was still trying to process it all.

“What a game. What a fight from start to finish,” he said. “Shot making, battling on the block. It was an absolute fight. I keep saying it, but our guys don’t feel like we can lose.”

And they didn’t on Thursday.

Eric Winters drilled a pair of free throws with 5.0 left for a three-point lead and the Wildcats (26-4) withstood a potential tying shot by Huntsville at the buzzer to advance. They will play No. 3 Hoover at 5:45 p.m. Saturday with a chance to win their second state title in three years.

“Eric with the two huge free throws at the end,” Harrelson said. “We made the plays when it mattered most. We’re proud to be playing in the last high school basketball game in the state of Alabama on Saturday.”

Enterprise took the lead for good at 47-45 on Winters’ reverse layup with 2:50 remaining. The margin increased to 50-46 moments later on Tucker Wadsworth’s 3 with two minutes left. The Panthers (32-3) clawed back within one twice – the final time at 53-52 on John David Gossett’s basket with five seconds left. They immediately fouled Winters.

“I’ve been working on free throws all season in practice because I wasn’t hitting many at the beginning,” Winters said. “This time they dropped.”

Huntsville coach Christian Schweers called timeout after Winters made the first one to draw up a final play for his team.

“We had two scenarios for if he made or missed the second,” Schweers said. “If it’s a 3, it’s a play we call touchdown, and we’ve scored on it a couple of times this year. He (Gossett) didn’t play football, but he can really throw it. We thought if we could complete the pass that we would have a shot at the rim, and we did. It just didn’t go down.”

It almost did. Gossett completed the pass to Samford 6-foot-10 signee Caleb Harrison, who outleaped Enterprise’s Jordan Knight, and quick kicked it to a moving Simon Walker in front of the Enterprise bench. Walker’s shot hit the rim but bounced off. Enterprise collected the rebound as time ran out.

“Coach (Schweers) did a great job,” Harrelson said. “He had a screen for Caleb. He was able to get his hands on it, and they got the look they wanted. Fortunately for us, it didn’t go in. We were kind of back on our heels, but we were able to get a hand up and contest it.”

Star of the game: Sophomore Tucker Wadsworth hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points for Enterprise. He was 7-of-15 from the field overall.

Stat sheet: Enterprise – Andrew Purcell and Winters each had 10 points. Winters also had 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Huntsville – Harrison finished his final game with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Walker and Gossett had 9 points each. Eli Stapler scored 8.

By the numbers: Enterprise finished 21-of-41 from the field (51.2 percent) and 8-of-19 from 3. The Wildcats hit 5-of-8 foul shots. Huntsville was 19-of-46 from the field (41.3 percent) and just 5-of-17 from 3. The Panthers hit 9-of-14 foul shots. Enterprise had a 15-5 edge in bench points.

Did you know? Huntsville beat Enterprise 59-39 on Dec. 22.

Coachspeak:

“It wasn’t real pretty at times and that’s the way we like it. It’s been physical in practice over the last two weeks. We’ve had busted lips, black eyes, knots on heads. They’ve been going at each other.” – Harrelson.

They said it:

“No one thought we would be here. All year, it was Huntsville this or Huntsville that. Well, we’re here now.” – Winters.

“I’m extremely proud of our team. I told them one game doesn’t define you as a person, player or coach and it certainly doesn’t define the season. We just had one of the greatest seasons ever played in the state. Today, we took our first in-state loss to a really good team that is playing its best basketball at the right time.” – Schweers.

“I didn’t feel like it was meant to be. We’ve had a lot of close games where we’ve found ways to win. We’ve been a part of some crazy finishes. Today, it seemed like Enterprise kept making plays when they had to, kept making shots when they had to. I thought they outplayed us in a really great game.” – Schweers.

“We can’t let one game define us. It happens. Some days, you don’t get it done.” – Walker.