CENTRE – There’s an old Guns ‘N’ Roses song released in 1988 called “Patience.”

Obviously, the rock group didn’t have this season’s Cherokee County boys basketball team in mind when they wrote that song, but the Warriors played their own patient tune Monday night against Piedmont.

The Warriors were able to keep the game close and bided their time, waiting for several crucial second-half shots to fall in a 63-54 victory in the Cherokee Invitational semifinals.

The win propels Cherokee County (4-1) to the tournament title game, where it will face Sand Rock in a rematch of last year’s Cherokee County Tournament final.

Piedmont dropped to 7-2 with the loss.

The Bulldogs began the game with a box-and-one attack against the Warriors. That limited the effectiveness of two of the Warriors’ top performers in guards Coty Blanchard and Keon Rucker. They had only two and seven points respectively at the half, but the Warriors were still able to hold a 27-24 advantage.

“I told them to work off the screens and be patient,” Cherokee County coach Kori Walker said. “They wanted us to force shots in this box-and-one, and we had other guys to step up. We made some adjustments at the half. We set more screens for Coty and Keon, and we went to a triangle-and-two.

“It was just really about being patient offensively. I told them it was going to take some time to find some shots that we want.”

And once the Warriors found shots they were comfortable with, they capitalized.

Rucker led the way with 17 points, five rebounds and four steals. He connected on three 3-pointers, two of which came in the game’s final 5:12.

In that time, the Warriors outscored the Bulldogs 11-2 after Rucker’s 3-pointer tied the game at 52.

“I think the basket that really turned the game around was when Keon hit that shot in the fourth quarter with about five minutes left over in the corner after we had worked about 30 seconds off the clock,” Walker said. “I think that was really the nail in the coffin. It was only a couple of possession game, but I think that was the biggest shot that really turned the game around for us.”

Piedmont coach Tommy Lewis said not rebounding the ball in crucial moments and not hitting free throws (they were 5 of 15 for the night) added to their woes in the stretch run.

“I think the big thing in our two losses right now is we’re not a good free-throw shooting team,” he said. “Those little leads we have, they’re not big enough to sustain because we miss free throws. You don’t beat anybody missing double-digit free throws.”

Colin Perry posted 16 points and six rebounds for the Warriors. Blanchard came away with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Brett Burgess finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Tay Holloway led Piedmont with 17 points and seven boards. Matt Craig added 16 points, including a 5-of-7 performance at the free-throw line. He also had seven rebounds and four steals. Jamaal Johnson connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Christian Cantrell added four points and seven assists.

Lewis said his plan was to let Johnson lead the Bulldogs down the stretch, but the plan never materialized.

“We asked Jamaal to take over in the fourth quarter, but we just stopped getting him the ball,” Lewis said. “I really think if we would have stayed in that 2-4 point range, Jamaal would have had a significant ending.

“We had a chance, but we got off track a little bit. When we broke it down in the locker room, we talked about the fact that a couple of days of practice might be what they need. I’m coaching too much during games, and that’s not a good sign.”