SPANISH FORT, Ala. – The Spanish Fort men’s basketball team pulled away from Citronelle High School on Friday night for a 60-47 victory.

The Toros and Wildcats went back and forth for the first three quarters, with the lead changing hands 12 times before Spanish Fort scored 15 consecutive points from the end of the third quarter until 4:50 left in the fourth quarter to give them a 52-38 advantage.

Senior guard Ben Redman led all scorers with 19 points, and guard Dalton Owens chipped in with 16 points. Te’jhaun Billingslea added 13 points and 11 rebounds, including a three-point play on a layup and foul with just one second left in the third quarter to give Spanish Fort a 43-38 lead.

“That was big,” Toros coach Earnest Hill said after the game. “We called that play. They were in (man-to-man) defense and didn’t have anybody back. That play is designed to hit long.”

With about four seconds left in the quarter, the Toros would inbound the ball from near half court and hit a streaking Billingslea for a layup. A Citronelle defender added a foul as the ball went in, and the Toros never looked back from there.

Citronelle gave the Toros all it could handle for three quarters, even taking the 31-30 lead midway through the third quarter.

“We didn’t play good help defense in the first half,” Hill said, “and in the fourth quarter we started playing help defense like I wanted them to.”

The Toros held an 18-11 lead after the first quarter, ending on a 13-5 run, but the Wildcats answered with an 11-2 run to take a 22-21 lead with 3:39 left in the first half.

With the Toros leading 23-22, Hill earned a technical foul and Citronelle cashed in on two free throws, but the Toros got a three-point play from Owens with only seconds left in the half to take a 26-24 lead into the locker room.

“He said I raised my voice at him,” Hill said when asked why he was called for the technical foul.

Justin Trotter led the Wildcats offensively with 14 points.