Senior Bennett Russ hit six of McGill-Toolen’s 10 3-pointers on Friday night as the Class 6A No. 3 Yellow Jackets held off rival Spanish Fort 65-55.

The Yellow Jackets improved to 21-6 overall with their 11th straight victory. They finished Area 2 play at 6-0.

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“Bennett has shot it well all season,” McGill-Toolen coach Phillip Murphy said. “He’s probably 42 percent from 3 this year. He’s been doing that all year for us. You can take one or two guys away, and we always have another guy step up somewhere. It’s a balanced team.”

Russ tied a season high with 24 points. Jack Murphy followed with 11 and Tristan Brower had 8. Alex Heim had 8 assists and 5 steals. As usual, the Yellow Jackets played 11 players and didn’t trail after Murphy’s 3-pointer broke a 23-23 tie right before the half.

“We didn’t shoot well tonight,” Phillip Murphy said. “Spanish Fort had a lot to do with it. They played well tonight. They made some adjustments from the first game we played. I think they were able to control the pace a little better than at our place. They limited our transition and also kept us off the offensive glass.”

McGill stretched the lead to 10 midway through the third quarter before the Toros cut the lead to 37-33 on Joshua Powell’s layup, capping a 6-0 run. But the Yellow Jackets finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 46-36 edge into the final quarter.

McGill controlled the game throughout the fourth quarter.

“I think when you have as many turnovers in the 32-minute game we played, it is impossible to win a game,” Spanish Fort coach Jimbo Tolbert said. “The outcome will always be the same. We talk every day about valuing the basketball. We talk everyday about rebounding and executing at a high rate. When you don’t value the basketball, you can’t win games and that is kind of where we are at right now. Plain and simple. We had a good plan. We executed that plan for the most part, but we just had too many turnovers.”

Tyler Wigley finished with 19 to lead the Toros (16-9). Spanish Fort hosts Robertsdale in the regular-season finale on Tuesday and then will play the Golden Bears in the first round of the area tournament at McGill-Toolen.

McGill-Toolen plays Picayune, Miss., in Biloxi on Saturday.