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Andalusia overcame an early 10-point deficit and outscored Bayside Academy by 12 in the fourth for a 68-57 win in a 4A boys’ sub-regional game on Saturday, Feb. 10.

The Bulldogs punched their first ticket to the regional round in six years and went to 21-8 overall. The Admirals closed their season with a 17-9 mark.

“We knew Bayside was going to come out and fight with it being win or go home at this point. They came out and punched us in the mouth, but we battled and got back in the game. Our kids had resilience and kept pounding and pounding. It was a great job on everybody’s part, and we are defined by who we are in the time of adversity. We have Jackson next and owe them some payback, so we will be on it,” AHS Head Coach Marcus Mickles said.

Sammy Dunn led off the night with a three-point play, and Finn Nebrig added a three for a quick 6-0 lead. Tyler Sigers sliced the gap to four before back-to-back threes from Miles Uter and Nebrig gave Bayside a 12-2 lead at the 6:08 mark. Cadariyus Love and Hudson Kelley followed with consecutive layups. Kam Weaver had a drive to the hoop and capped a 10-point swing for a 12-12 tie. Uter and Noel Turner responded with triples, and Nebrig sank two free throws as the opposition led 20-12. Andalusia rallied back behind four from Tyler Sigers and two by Weaver to only trail 20-18 at the end of one.

Tyler Sigers tied the score early in the second period, while Xavier Hourel went two-for-two at the line and gave the Bulldogs their first lead. Love stretched the margin to six on a layup with 5:55 remaining until halftime. Dunn sliced the gap to 28-26 with a three-pointer, but Xavier Hourel and Weaver each had two for a 32-26 edge. Dunn hit a jumper with 33 seconds left and pulled the Admirals within 35-29 at the break.

Turner began the second half with the initial four points. Bayside regained the lead when Uter swished a three at the 6:09 mark. The two sides traded the next four buckets beyond the arc. Dunn then made a layup, but Love had two straight nifty moves to the basket for a 45-44 lead. Tyler Sigers gave Andalusia a two-point lead until Dunn earned a three for a 51-50 margin after three.

The Bulldogs opened the final period with an eight-point swing led by Love’s four points. Weaver got an offensive rebound and went off the glass for a 58-51 lead with exactly six minutes left. Dunn and Turner combined for three free throws and brought the Admirals within four. Kelley went two-for-two at the line as Weaver was three-of-four and widened the lead to 63-54. Uter drained a three, but Jordan Stallworth followed suit, and Tevin Sigers closed the scoring.

Love was the top scorer for Andalusia with 21 points. Weaver and Tyler Sigers also contributed double-digit showings with 12 and 10, respectively. Tevin Sigers earned seven, Kelley had six, and Calvin Daniel garnered five.

Dunn paced Bayside with 17 points as Uter and Nebrig each had 15. Turner rounded out the visiting effort at 10.

“The team and I felt good after our hard-fought win tonight. It felt really good to come back because we could have given up and just let Bayside have it. We refused to go home and had to never give up while we kept fighting. We look forward to having some good days of practice this week and hopefully keep the same energy going forward for another win,” Love said.

The Bulldogs return to action in the 4A South Regional semi-finals at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery against Jackson (26-2) on Monday, Feb. 19, at 1:30 p.m.