ROBERTSDALE-For much of the first half on Tuesday night neither Fairhope nor Robertsdale looked like they wanted to leave Golden Bears gym with a win. As the game went along both teams got hot and Fairhope walked away with an exciting 46-43 win over the Bears.

“Either team couldn’t get anything going,” Pirate head coach Robby Robertson said of the erly going. “We passed the ball really well and we moved, that’s part of what we have been working on here. The guys are doing a really good job and the shots will fall. It is always hard to shoot on the road.” I thought we hung in there we tried to give it away in the end by making some crazy plays down the stretch. Being as young as we are that’s going to happen and hopefully we can learn from that.”

The Pirates and the Bears missed three pointers, jump shots, and even open layups in the first quarter, a quarter that saw the two teams combine for 11 points.

It wasn’t until the 1:20 mark of the first quarter when the Pirates finally put the ball in the basket. Defense played a huge role for both teams but when it came to Fairhope they just couldn’t make the open shot.

Senior Trent Baggerly led the way for the Pirates on Tuesday night in what turned out to be a very balanced offensive attack. The Pirates had a total of eight players get on the score sheet against the Bears.

“That comes from the type of offense that we are trying to run. It is an equal opportunity but we have to make the ball move.” Robertson said. “That is credit to our guys. We are not selfish and we pass the ball. These guys don’t care who the star is they just want to win.”

With the score tied at 18 at the half the Pirates started the third quarter on a 15-6 run that gave them a little bit of a cushion in the second half.

The Pirates held the lead the entire second half, sometimes by as much as double digits but the Bears made some big shots and converted on numerous one-and-one opportunities to get them back in the game. With under 1:20 left in regulation and the Pirates up by seven points, the Bears were able to force some bad shots by the Pirates that kept them in the game.

The game went down to the final two possessions of the game until the Pirates mad a couple of free throws late to ice the game giving them the important Class 6A Area 3 win. Like Fairhope, the Bears also had a balanced night scoring the ball. They were led senior by  Rashad Hobby who finished with 10 points.