Red Level had two turnovers in the last minute of the game against Georgiana, and fell 48-46 to the Panthers at Straughn’s Christmas Tournament on Friday night.

Tigers guard KJ Lawrence tried to call a timeout with the game at 46-46 with less than 50 seconds left, but was called for traveling.

After Georgiana’s Justin Oikle got rebound and a put back on the other end to put the game at 48-46, RLS committed another travel on its end, and with 12.4 seconds left, Panthers head coach Kirk Norris took a much-needed timeout to think about the next play.

Oikle was then fouled and missed both free throws.

On the other end, Lawrence was trying to make a last ditch effort to tie the game up, but the ball wouldn’t go.

“We just hurt ourselves,” RLS coach Allen Catrett said. “We weren’t lined up in the right places. We weren’t doing (what we needed to do).”

Throughout the contest, the Tigers and Panthers — who are area opponents this season — kept the game close, as each held on to single-digit leads.

Red Level led 8-7 after the first period, thanks to a Spencer Stallworth drive to the basket with time ticking away.

Tigers’ big man Tim Sims scored four points in the second period off put backs to give RLS a 14-10 lead. After a Stallworth drive, the Tigers (5-3) led 16-14.

Sims made it 22-18 later on, but Georgiana wasn’t going away that easy.

Georgiana’s Devin McMeans made it a 1-point game by draining a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 22-21 lead at halftime.

By the end of the third period, RLS looked to be clicking on all cylinders as it led 38-32 going into the final eight minutes of the game.

Missed shots and costly mistakes by the Tigers gave the Panthers what they needed to get back in the game, despite trailing for more than half of the fourth period.

Jacquez Payton, who led GHS with 18 points, hit a jumper and the front-end of a pair of free throws to tie the game at 46-46 with 53.4 seconds left in the contest.

Lawrence led all Tigers with 17 points. Sims had 10 points and Dee Tolbert chipped in seven points.

Red Level will face Florala at 2:30 p.m. today in the loser’s bracket.

Straughn 76, Florala 60

Straughn put up another impressive first half against Florala as it led 51-27 at halftime.

The Wildcats, trailing by seven points, cut the game to 15-11 as John Bess drove the lane for an easy layup at the end of the first period.

However, the Wildcats bit their tongue and outscored the Tigers 18-6 in the third period to make it interesting, to say the least.

“We just didn’t come out in the second half with a whole lot of intensity,” SHS assistant coach Marc Tracy said. “The game was called tight and we just didn’t adjust to it well.”

Tracy said he thought Florala played well against his team.

“They played their butts off,” he said. “They got to within nine or 10 points to us.”

Straughn and Florala had 29 free throws each in Friday night’s game.

Brice Scott led SHS with 20 points, seven rebounds and five steals; JD Driver chipped in 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals; Jasper Bowdoin had 12 points and four steals; and Hobie Hughes scored all of his 14 points in the first half.

Bess led the Wildcats with 23 points, and was 13-for-19 at the free throw line. Austin McNeill had 13 points.

Straughn will face Georgiana today at 4 p.m. in the tournament championship.

Pleasant Home 55, Kinston 53

Kinston led 29-25 at halftime, but the Eagles came out and trickled their way back to the lead as they went on to outscore the Bulldogs 16-12 in the third period.

After a couple Lance Davis drives and a Chase Gunter 3-pointer, the Eagles were ahead 37-36 late in the third.

The game was tight in the fourth period, as both teams tossed a single-digit lead back and forth.

With less than 16 seconds, Davis drained a pair of free throws and PHS led 55-51.

Kinston then called a timeout and made a put back for the final score of the game.

“I feel like the kids are getting a little bit of confidence in themselves,” PHS coach Jerry Davis said. “It’s not going to be long that we’re going to be starting area play and that’s all that maatters.”

Davis led PHS with 21 points. Jon Cole Chesser and Ty Hammett chipped in eight points each. Chase Gunter, who had three 3-pointers, had nine points.

The Eagles will play New Brockton at 1 p.m. today.