Skyline basketball coach Craig McGill led both the boys and girls basketball teams to the region finals in his first year back at his alma mater and is making a trip to the final four with the former.

The fifth-ranked Vikings powered ahead in the second half, but had to fend off a late rally to clinch a 58-51 victory over No. 3 Spring Garden in Monday’s Class 1A boys Northeast Regional final at Jacksonville State’s Pete Mathews Coliseum.

McGill coached the girls’ regional final game – a 51-38 loss to Spring Garden – before immediately returning to the court for the boys’ game.

“These kids love each other, both teams love each other,” McGill said. “They’re selfless and care about each other. These dudes and these girls, I love them. I never really thought I wanted to go back home, but that was the stupidest thing I did in my career. We’ve had so much fun and support.”

Skyline (26-4) fell behind 4-0 midway through the opening period, but took its first lead with an 8-1 run that was ignited on a layup from Jayton Prince. Spring Garden’s John Welsh went 5-of-6 from the line in the last two minutes of the quarter, but Zeier Golden nailed two 3-pointers in the final 33 seconds to push the Vikings’ advantage to 14-9 entering the second quarter.

The Panthers quickly cut the lead down to a single point to open the second period and eventually took a 21-20 lead with 2:35 remaining on back-to-back buckets from Noah Barber and Welsh. Skyline’s Scott York drained a triple inside the final two minutes to regain a 23-21 lead for the Vikings heading into halftime.

York hit another 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half and Skyline shot ahead to a 33-25 lead on a pair of layups from Bryant Kennemer and another triple from Golden. The Vikings increased their advantage to double digits on a 9-2 run, following a plus-1 opportunity from Cole Bailey,

Spring Garden (27-5) made a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 5 points with a little less than three minutes remaining in the game, but the Vikings went 10-of-12 at the line down the stretch to clinch the region title for the first time in three decades.

Did you know? Skyline advances to its first state tournament since the 1994 season.

By the numbers: The Vikings shot 51.3 percent from the field, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) on three-pointers, and were 12-of-17 at the foul line. Spring Garden was 41.9 percent overall but only 2-of-13 from 3-point range. The rebounding battle was an even draw at 24-all and Spring Garden earned a plus-6 advantage on interior scoring.

Stat sheet: Skyline – Kennemer led the way with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Golden finished with 12 points, 4 boards and 3 assists. Prince had 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, and Avans grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds. Spring Garden – The Panthers were led by John Welsh with a team-high 17 points, along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and Jake Welsh produced a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, adding 4 assists. Barber finished with 10 points, followed by Chapel Pope with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Bailey contributed 5 points.

All-Tournament Team: Skyline’s Bryant Kennemer was named tournament MVP and teammates Scott York and Zeier Golden were named to the all-tournament team, along with Spring Garden’s Jake and John Welsh and Faith Christian’s Carson Harris.

Coachspeak: “I thought our game plan was great. They’re (Spring Garden) really good at getting downhill and really tough. One of the best well-coached teams we’ve played in a long time and I hope it’s the last time we play them in a long time. These guys wanted it and I’m so happy for them.” –Skyline’s Craig McGill

“This is one of those moments you hate because you enjoy your team so much. You enjoy coming to work every day with them. There are seasons where you want it to end, but that’s not the case with this group. We had a great season. I love these guys and just hate to see it come to an end.” – Spring Garden’s Levi Hatcher

They said it: “Last year we had it and came up short. It was a feeling I knew when it happened that I never wanted to feel like that again. This offseason was about making it back here and getting it done this year.” – Bryant Kennemer

“I’m new here, but I know what happened last year. Going into the fourth, up by 10, I told everybody, let’s not repeat what we did last year.” – Scott York

“Number 40 (John Welsh) is huge and strong.” – Zeier Golden

What’s next? Skyline advances to face No. 2 Georgiana in a Class 1A state semifinal at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at BJCC’s Legacy Arena in Birmingham.