MOBILE, Ala. — Despite mounting a spirited offensive rally and cranking up the defensive volume in the second half, the Daphne Trojans fell short of advancing to the state 6A final four Friday.

But the 2010-11 Troy-Boys did go deeper into the playoffs than any DHS boys team before by reaching the finals of the Class 6A South Regional, where they lost to Murphy 72-64 at USA's Mitchell Center.

Daphne turned an 18-point first-half, run-away deficit into a last-minute nail-biting thriller. By outscoring the Panthers 43-33 in the second half, they cut the Murphy lead to eight points by the end of the third quarter and fought back to within two points, 62-60, with just 1:37 left in the game. But the rally ran out of steam in the final minute as MHS went 5-for-6 at the line and got a put-back off a held-ball ruling in their favor to go back up 67-60 . Meanwhile the Trojans made just one of three field goals as the Panthers again hit five of their last six attempts to finish at the line.

“Their free-throw shooting late in the game was just amazing,” said DHS coach Cedric Yelding of the Panthers. “We got down to where we had to foul them and if they had just missed two, we might have been back in it. But they made their shots and you have to respect that. We missed some layups early in the game and that can come back on you. But that happens, it’s part of the game.”

Even though MHS shot just 65 percent for the game, in the last four minutes, the Panthers sank 15-of-17 or 88 percent. Overall, the Trojans were a little better at the line going 20-for-30 or 67 percent.

The Trojans came back in the third and fourth quarters by pressing to force 13 second-half turnovers with better defensive rebounding, hitting more outside shots and most of all by pounding the inside. The most successful pounder was Preston Solomon who led the Trojans with 25 points, just two behind MVP Antonio Jones’ 27.

“We came back inside,” Yelding said. “That has been our strength all year and we had tried to mix it because we do have guys who shoot the trey ball pretty good. But it didn’t work out in our favor tonight.”

DHS was cold from 3-point range in the first half and had just two for the game, both by senior Joe Menefee who finished with 14 points. Senior point guard Tyler Birch finished with 15 and joined Solomon on the all-tournamanet team with Murphy’s Troyce Manassa, Michael Flanning and McGill-Toolen Catholic’s Tevin Bettis.

The Trojans finished at 18-9. Vance Jenkins added four, T.J. Yeldon three, Justin Jackson and Zachary Houston two each and Dominique Crosby one for Daphne which graduates seven seniors this year.

“I’m extremely proud of these guys,” Yelding said. “The program has come a long way to get to the regional final, they inspired the younger kids coming up to try and get back here and go further next year.”

The Panthers (24-5) will play Vestavia Hills (15-17) in the state semifinals at 10:45 a.m. Thursday in Birmingham.