The John Pruett Championship Trophy, named for the longtime Huntsville Times sports editor, stood at midcourt as the teams warmed up before Friday night’s final of the 41st annual Huntsville City Classic at Huntsville High.

Class 7A top-ranked Huntsville captured this coveted prize by beating fourth-ranked Austin 61-60. The host Crimson Panthers had last won the tournament in 1985.

JD Gossett decided the game by making two free throws with less than a second left for Huntsville (20-1). He finished with a game-high 21 points.

“I shoot free throws every day in practice. I trusted the work I put in,” said the 6-foot-5 junior guard. “I was very happy. So grateful for the moment. And it was awesome to win the Huntsville City Classic the first time in 30 years.”

Caleb Harrison, the tournament MVP, had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Simon Walker added 13 points and Brayden Rivers had 8.

“I’m super happy for the team,” said Harrison, a 6-9 Samford signee. “It was a team effort overall. Everybody stepped up and did their roles.”

Austin (15-4) led 17-15 after one quarter. Rivers’ 3-pointer at the buzzer put the Panthers up 31-28 at halftime. Huntsville led 46-44 after three quarters. The game had 10 ties and four lead changes.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Huntsville coach Christian Schweers said. “Great defensive effort at the end.

“We were never gonna call timeout (on Huntsville’s final offensive possession). We were always going to race it up the floor. We wanted to get fouled at the rim. We overcame a lot of adversity tonight. I’m really proud of our team.”

The Black Bears were led by Harry Malone with 16 points, Isaiah Fuller with 14 and Jordan Johnson with 12. Caiden Ricks had 8 points and 8 rebounds.

“My guys played hard, they did enough to win,” Austin coach Desmond Phillips said. “I hate it was put on the refs to make that call (for the foul at the end), but it’s part of the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way tonight.”

Next, Huntsville will host Grissom on Jan. 5 in its 7A, Area 7 opener. Austin will visit Priceville on Jan. 2. The Black Bears will host James Clemens on Jan. 9 to open play in 7A, Area 8.

In other Classic action on Friday:

THIRD PLACE

Grissom 71, James Clemens 64

The Tigers shot 61 percent from the floor on the way to the win over James Clemens to claim third place in the tournament. Grissom had 18 assists on 25 made field goals and hit 7-of-15 buckets from beyond the 3-point arc.

Grissom (12-10) overcame 21 turnovers and forced the Jets into 16 miscues. James Clemens (12-6) made 39 percent of its shots, but 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) from beyond the arc.

The game was tied five times and there were nine lead changes. James Clemens’ largest lead was just 2 points while the Tigers led by 15 with 5:28 left in the game.

Grissom led 20-15 after one quarter before James Clemens rallied to tie the game at 35 at the half. The Tigers carried a 50-43 margin into the fourth period.

TJ Cole scored a double-double for Grissom, with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Martin scored 21 points. Justin McCall and Javon Alexander finished with 9 points apiece. Alexander also had 8 assists.

Bryce Mason poured in 27 points for James Clemens. He also had 5 rebounds, tied with Isaiah Cleaves for the team lead. Noah Gorman scored 12 points for the Jets.

FIFTH PLACE

Buckhorn 58, Hazel Green 53

The Bucks, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, captured fifth place in the tournament thanks to a fourth-quarter rally over 6A No. 10 Hazel Green. Trailing 37-36 headed into the final period, Buckhorn finished with its biggest scoring quarter of the day to earn the win.

The teams were tied at 11 after one quarter and the Trojans led 25-22 at the half. The game was tied eight times and the lead changed eight times. The winners’ largest lead was 8 points with 21 seconds left in the game. Hazel Green’s largest margin was 5 points late in the third quarter.

Buckhorn shot 44.7 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent on 3-pointers. The Bucks made 10-of-16 free throws.

Hazel Green hit 40 percent of its shots, 8-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc, and was 3-for-5 on free throws.

Caleb Holt, who led Buckhorn to the state championship last season with an MVP performance in the final four as a freshman, scored 30 points in the game. He shared rebounding honors with Joshua Wilkerson and Austen Childress with 6. Holt also had a team-best 3 assists and hit two of the Bucks’ six 3-pointers, on four attempts.

Jackson Ramsey scored 9 points for Buckhorn on 3-for-8 shooting on 3-pointers.

Nathan Butterfield led Hazel Green with 12 points, including a pair of 3-point buckets. Pedro Lazaro scored 11 and had 6 assists. Terrance Pruitt Jr. had 10 rebounds to go with 8 points.

CONSOLATION GAMES

McAdory 73, Florence 64

The Yellow Jackets outscored Florence 48-39 in the second half after battling the Falcons to a 25-all stalemate in the first two periods. McAdory made 50 percent of its shots from the floor, but just 2-of-12 on 3-pointers. Florence hit 42 percent of its shots – both overall and from behind the arc.

McAdory (9-7) outscored Florence 52-32 in the paint on the way to the win.

Tristan Gilmore led McAdory with 25 points, hitting 10 of his 15 field-goal attempts. He missed both of his 3-point tries and was 5-of-7 from the foul line. JaCobe Whitted scored 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting with 9-of-12 free throws. He led the winners with 15 rebounds, including 6 on the offensive end. JaCorey Whitted scored 11 points.

Bryant James led Florence (10-6) with 21 points. Kedrick Triplett and Jamarrion Reeder scored 12 points apiece for the Falcons. Reeder’s 8 rebounds led the team. Jaisylon Payne added 11 points in the loss.

St. Pius X 65, Sparkman 54

The Golden Lions from Atlanta pulled away in the second half to top Sparkman (6-14) on Friday. St. Pius X led 31-29 at the half and 41-37 after three quarters.

St. Pius X shot 36 percent from the floor, 32 percent on 3-pointers, and made 1-of-2 from the foul line. Sparkman hit 28-of-34 free throws, shot 30 percent on field goals and 26 percent on 3-pointers. The Lions outrebounded the Senators 35-30.

Harris Reynolds led St. Pius X (9-4) with 17 points. Aiden Portee had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ashton Bjerke also scored 15 in the win.

Tylan Pace led Sparkman with 13 points. Eli Bannister scored 10 for the Senators.

Mae Jemison 64, Columbia 35

The Jaguars raced to a 23-2 first-quarter lead on the way to the rout of Columbia. Mae Jemison led 33-14 at the half and was up 49-26 headed into the final period.

Prince Williams led four Jags in double figures with 14 points. He also grabbed 14 rebounds. Hezekiah Harris scored 13 points, Da’Karion Bryant scored 12 and Jaquarius Horton added 11 points and 5 assists in the win.

Chanze Allen led Columbia with 10 points. Noah Moore scored 8 for the Eagles and Jason Williams had 6 rebounds.

Centennial (Tenn.) 52, Bob Jones 48

The Franklin, Tenn., squad scored 18 points off 15 Bob Jones turnovers on the way to the win. Centennial rallied from a 17-10 first-quarter deficit to tie the game at 23-all at the half and pulled ahead 39-35 headed into the final period.

The Cougars made 15-of-18 free throws while the Patriots made 11-of-17.

Dominic Reed led the winners (7-6) with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Taner Lee scored 14 for the Cougars.

Kaden Rickard scored 20points to lead Bob Jones, hitting 7-of-10 shots from the floor. Eric Marrow scored 11 for the Patriots (8-11).