Tempers flared and physical play was the order of the day in the fourth quarter as Pleasant Home defeated Kinston 66-49 in a foul-filled game.

In the fourth quarter alone, the teams shot a combined 35 free throw attempts. Twice in the quarter, Pleasant Home players were fouled on clean breakaways and the Kinston defenders were also hit with technical fouls. Two Bulldogs fouled out of the game.

“They’ve been rivals for years and years, even before I got here,” Pleasant Home coach Jerry Davis said. “It’s always going to be tense between Kinston and Pleasant Home. We’re back in the same area now and battling for the right to host (the area tournament), so it’s a big ball game.”

Pleasant Home and Kinston are tied atop Class 1A, Area 3 with identical 4-2 records. However, the Bulldogs hold the tiebreaker assuming that McKenzie beat Florala Friday. Kinston would receive the No. 1 seed by virtue of sweeping the No. 3 seed McKenzie during area play, while Pleasant Home split against the Tigers.

“If Florala beats McKenzie tonight, then there’s going to be a bunch of coin flips,” Davis said. “But if not, then Kinston wins the area. That’s just the way it is, and that’s why this game is so important. We took care of our end of it, but we’ll need some help from somewhere.”

Kinston held a 12-10 lead after the first quarter but the Eagles quickly moved into the lead during the second quarter. Pleasant Home’s Cory Sims was fouled on a made lay-up and hit the free throw to give the Eagles a 28-21 advantage with 2:06 left in the second.

The Eagles finished the second quarter on a positive note when Stephen Davis was fouled on a made basket and hit the free throw to put Pleasant Home ahead 33-27 at halftime.

Pleasant Home led 51-38 at the end of the third quarter.

Stephen Davis led the Eagles with 22 points, followed by Emory Rabren with 17 and Ethan King with 10. Hunter Anderson had 23 points to lead Kinston.