The Straughn Middle School eighth grade basketball team won the Covington County championship after knocking off Pleasant Home 32-30 on Thursday night in Florala.

Straughn got on the board first when Brody Stewart hit a pair of free throws early in the game.

Caleb Cooper and Stewart finished the first period with four points each to help put the Tigers on top 10-9 after one period of play.

Josh Hawkins, Luke Gatewood and Mason Anderson added points for the Eagles.

In the second period, Anderson accounted for four points to help the Eagles go up 15-13 at halftime.

Stewart got back-to-back buckets to start the scoring in the third period to put Straughn back on top 17-15.

At the end of three periods, Straughn was on top 23-20.

Gatewood came up clutch for the Eagles midway through the final period with a 3-pointer that put the Eagles up 27-25.

Straughn tied the game up at 27-27 before a layup from Gatewood put the Eagles up 29-27 with 1:30 left to play.

Cooper then connected with a 3-pointer to give Staughn a 30-29 lead with just over a minute left to play.

After Straughn tied it with a free throw, Cooper sealed the win with a layup in the final seconds.

“We talked about finishing,” Straughn head coach Marshall McGlaun said. “Last year, we had all three games (7th, 8th and girls) and both my boys’ teams lost. It’s kind of been an end goal. We felt like we should play them again and we need to finish this time. I told them what we did tonight was not a product of our effort tonight. It’s a product of everything we’ve done the past two years. This all started in the summers when it’s a million degrees and nobody wants to be there, but these kids wanted to be there. That’s won them this game tonight.”