BAY MINETTE – The Baldwin County High School Tigers advanced to the sweet 16 for the second straight year by defeating the Fairhope Pirates 55-37 on Saturday in a sub-regional matchup.

The first quarter of play saw a sluggish start for both teams as the Tigers took a 12-7 lead. Eight of BCHS' 12 points came off the bench while senior Tyler Baggerly scored five out of seven points for the Pirates. The second quarter was all Baldwin County as Taylor Culliver started out the quarter with four points in less than 30 seconds. The Tigers went on to out score Fairhope 16-7 in the second quarter to bring the half time score to 28-17.

The teams combined for just 15 points in the third, BCHS 8- Fairhope 7 for a score of 36-24.

Baldwin County’s Charleston Gandy got into a rhythm at the end of the third quarter by hitting a two point jump shot at the buzzer and kept the momentum in the fourth as he scored the first four points for the Tigers. Gandy went on to score 10 points in the fourth quarter to help propel the Tigers to the 55-37 victory and another trip to the Regional tournament.

Gandy had a game high 15 points with teammates Larry Rodgers, Taylor Culliver, and Michael Stanley contributing eight points each. Tripp Drummond and Harvey Mitchell led the Pirates with 11 points each.

The first rounds of the regional tournament held at the University of South Alabama saw Baldwin County High School against Baker and Robertsdale High against Theodore with the winners to face each other in the Elite Eight and a chance to head to Birmingham for the Final Four. Results of the regional games were unavailable at press time.