FAIRHOPE, Ala. — In a rematch of last season’s playoff game, the Baldwin County Tigers replayed the painful images for the Pirate faithful Friday night in gutsy 67-64 win over the hosting Pirates.

In the first region matchup for both Baldwin County and Fairhope, Friday night’s game was an important one for getting the regional part of their schedule on the right track.

The Fairhope Pirates, perhaps thanks to the momentum their home fans provided, began the game on a great pace jumping out by nine points in the first half, thanks to some clutch shooting from behind the arc by Davis Watson.

With the game tightly contested throughout the first half the Pirates entered the half with a slim 34-33 lead over the Tigers.

The Pirates started the second half in the same fashion they started the game. They made a few more three pointers and pushed their lead back out to 9 points midway through the third quarter.

A big key in the game was the Tigers’ ability to come back and stop the Pirates run in both the first and third quarters, keeping the game in reach.

“I saw a group of kids getting at our butts and early on we didn’t want it. We pressured them and continued to do what we do,” Tiger head coach Lorenzo Hunter said. “We knew if we continued they would break and that’s what they did. We just had to continue to apply the pressure and do what we do.”

Another key entering the game between the Tigers and the Pirates was how Fairhope would combat against the bigger and athletic front court that the Tigers possess.

Early the Pirates did just that by shooting a high percentage from behind the three-point line but in the end that was not enough to beat the big and athletic Tigers.

“I am not pleased by how our post guys played tonight. I thought we are way bigger inside and I thought we should have dominated and we didn’t,” Hunter said. “I think it helped us at times but I think if you looked at the rebounds, they out rebounded us.”

Late in the fourth quarter the game was still in doubt, with the Tigers holding a slim lead over the Pirates.

With :16 seconds remaining in regulation and the Pirates down three, Watson had a chance to tie the game with a few seconds remaining but his shot bounced off the rim and into the hands of the Tigers securing the win.

Montrey Bishop led the way for the Tigers all night. He led the Tigers in scoring with 13 points. With the game starting to slip away late the Pirates had a big performance from senior forward Trip Baggerly, who finished the game with 9 points.

Jacob Jenkins led the Pirates in scoring with 14.

The Tigers will next be in action on Tuesday when they host Daphne. The Pirates play on Dec. 16 when they travel to play Gulf Shores.