CEDAR BLUFF – The Class 1A, Area 12 regular season basketball title comes down to a coin toss.

That’s because the Gaston Bulldogs were able to prevent Cedar Bluff from establishing its transition game and hold on for a 59-53 victory over the fourth-ranked Tigers on Monday.

The victory by the Bulldogs (14-6) pushed their area record to 9-1, while the loss by the Tigers (19-3) was their first area setback. The coin toss to see who will host the Area 12 tournament will be held at 1 p.m. at Spring Garden.

“We came up here with the intention to just play hard and let’s get to the coin toss,” Gaston coach David Wright said. “This is the time of year you want to start playing good. I think we’re starting to play good, and we want to play a lot more basketball.”

If Wright’s team plays like it did on Monday, they certainly could play into early March. The Bulldogs rallied from an early eight-point deficit at 21-13 at the end of the first quarter and took a 28-27 lead with them at the half. It was a lead Gaston wouldn’t relinquish, although Cedar Bluff came close of regaining it several times down the stretch.

Consecutive buckets by Tiger guard Tyric Scales in the game’s final minute trimmed Gaston’s advantage to 54-53 with 46.5 seconds left.

However, a 3-point shot from the corner by the Bulldogs’ Cody Currul with 23.8 seconds remaining pushed Gaston’s lead back to four at 57-53.

“Cody got it in the corner, and I guess he just felt it,” Wright said. “It was definitely not the shot we wanted, but every time it’ll go in, we’ll take it. It ended up being a big shot for us. It kind of put us over the hump. We turned a one-possession game into a two-possession game, and that was critical. That was a big shot off the corner.”

On the Tigers’ ensuing possession, Scales missed a 3-pointer, which was rebounded by Currul. Currul added an insurance bucket with 5.6 seconds left for the final. He finished with seven points – all of which came in the game’s final two minutes.

“Tonight, we were out of synch,” Cedar Bluff coach Joe Carpenter said. “They took us out of our game – both physically and mentally.

“I think if we would have been a little more patient, maybe they wouldn’t have hit those shots like that. We gave up points off the press. We lined up one time and let them get a wide-open layup. We were just confused. We weren’t mentally focused to play the game, and that’s my fault. They beat us in every aspect of the game tonight. They did what they had to do to win.”

Jared Bogle led the Bulldogs with 18 points. KaDyrian Morris added 16 points and Demont Buice finished with eight points.

“That’s what it takes,” Wright said. “We lost our second leading scorer in Darius Lewis. He hurt his knee in the (Etowah) County tournament last Wednesday, and I told the guys as a team, we have to step up. That’s 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. We have to step up and absorb that loss.

“We don’t have one guy who’s going to go in and make up those numbers, but collectively we can. I think Cody and KaDyrian did a good job with that tonight.”

Scales led Cedar Bluff with 16 points and six rebounds. DeAngelo Hardy had 12 points and five boards. Tony McGinnis came away with 10 points and nine rebounds. Nick Reed added eight points and a pair of rebounds, and Marcus Reese finished with seven points, five steals, five boards and four assists.

“There’s no doubt that Reese makes them go,” Wright said. “We felt like if we played hard and made him work hard, we might have a chance to stay in the ball game. They’re definitely a transition team. They will beat you down the floor if you’re jogging. I think we did a good job of getting back on defense and handling their press. That’s their bread and butter. They’re going to press you, and the next thing you know, you’re down 15 and the ball game’s over.

“We distributed the ball well. We had less than five turnovers, and that’s the tale of tape. The less turnovers you have against Cedar Bluff, you better your chances because they’re a great ball team.”

Added Carpenter: “They (Gaston) get after it. They hustle. I still think we could have played better than what we did. I don’t think we played our best ball game.

“I guess if there is any consolation here, this is just a regular-season ball game. It’s not the end of the world, but we’re going to have to get our act together between now and next week. This is not the time to go downhill.”

Girls

Gaston 48, Cedar Bluff 31 – Gaston broke open a tight game in third quarter and forged ahead for a 48-31 victory over Cedar Bluff on Monday.

Kris Lawson led the Class 1A, No. 6 Lady Bulldogs (16-4) with 15 points. Morgan Beaird tossed in 12 points and Erin Lowery came away with 11 points. Tanna Lawson finished with eight points.

Jessica Brannon tallied 11 points to lead Cedar Bluff (12-11). Tanessa Fife added nine points and 11 rebounds. Candria Dupree finished with six points and a pair of boards.

The Lady Tigers trailed by only a 9-5 margin at the end of the first quarter, and were down 17-14 at the half. However, 22 total turnovers in the game help send Cedar Bluff to defeat.

Gaston led by as many as 20 points and by 10 at the end of the third quarter at 31-21. The Bulldogs went on a 17-10 run in the fourth for the final.

“I think the girls played about as well as we could ask them for two-and-a-half quarters, but we just kind of went away,” Carpenter said. “We were down by three at halftime, but Gaston’s got some girls who can score. We’ve been having trouble scoring all year long, and if someone can limit us from pressing and limit us from making runs at the basket, then it’s going to be tough for us to score offensively.

“Very few of our kids scored tonight, and it’s tough when you can’t break out of the 40s. You’re going to have to play a lot better defense and limit their shots if you’re not going to score that many points.”