BAY MINETTE, Alabama – The Baldwin County Tigers opened the second half with a 19-3 run and held on late to beat the Enterprise Wildcats 75-64 in a Class 6A sub-regional on Friday.

The Tigers (18-14) advanced to the Southeast Regional tournament and will play the winner of the Blount-Davidson game on Wednesday at the Dothan Civic Center.

Xavier Dortch led all scorers with 30 points and hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final minute to help secure the win for the Tigers.

“Xavier is magic with the basketball,” Baldwin County head coach Lorenzo Hunter said. “He shoots the lights out when he is on.”

Enterprise opened the game on an 8-0 run and led 16-12 after one period. The Tigers took the lead at the 6:45 mark in the second period on a three-pointer from Justin Mayes and carried a 31-26 lead into the half. The Tigers exploded on offense to start the second half and opened up a 50-29 lead with 2:25 to play after back-to-back three-point plays from Mayes and Ewing Mayberry in the third period.

“The kids just played with the heart of a tiger,” Hunter said. “They believe in themselves and they believe that they can score with anybody. We are continuing to work on defense. If our defense can catch up to the way we shoot the basketball I like our chances.”

In the final minute Dortch, Jaquan Finch and Mayes hit 8-of-8 free throws to hold off a late run by the Wildcats. Mayes finished with 17 points and Finch added 10 for the Tigers.

Joshua Boykin led Enterprise with 27 points and Tre’von McNeal added 15 for the Wildcats.

Hunter said he was proud that the Tigers made it back to the Southeast Regional, where they have become a mainstay over the years.

“The great thing about it is that these guys are going back to represent us in the regional tournament,” Hunter said. “Our belief is that that is where we are supposed to be. We actually call it ‘home.’ I told them we would sell ourselves short if we didn’t get there and they did.”

DAPHNE, BAYSIDE FALL IN SUB-REGIONAL: The Daphne Trojans (16-13) lost to the Northview Cougars (15-10) 78-52 in Dothan on Friday in a Class 6A sub-regional.  In Class 3A Southside-Selma (21-9) defeated Bayside Academy (22-9) 62-58 in a sub-regional in Selma.