SPANISH FORT, Alabama — With winning their last two contests by 30 or more points each, the No. 4-Ranked 5A Spanish Fort Toros seemed to be chomping at the bit for a serious challenge to wet their competitive appetite. And the UMS-Wright Bulldogs threw them a juicy bone.

But the Bulls rallied to take a 52-49 home Christmas Classic championship victory Friday night at The Fort.

After lurking from eight-to-10 points back much of the game, the ‘Dogs unleashed a final-quarter run to make it a two-point (48-46) game and then a one-point (49-48) game with 1:38 left in regulation. SF responded with tighter defense and a put-back basket by Kaleb Hall who drew a foul and made the free throw for the 52-48 final margin. UMS-Wright had some decent-but long shots from the perimeter in the final seconds, but none found the cylinder.

“We needed a challenge,” said SFHS head coach Dru Powell. "We needed to have a really good challenge like that game. UMS has a good team, I'm glad that our guys found a way to win the game at the end. Tonight, I was glad our guys came out and fought. We have plenty still to work on though. We have to get better on both ends of the floor and have plenty of room for improvement."

Austin Depperschmidt and Reagan Eubanks scored 12 points each and Quinn Atkinson added 10 for the Toros who improved to 11-1. UMS-Wright (7-5) was led by Patrick Huettemann’s game-high of 14 points with Stephen Hyde and Blake Admire each scoring 10. Atkinson, Eubanks and Hyde were named to the SFHS 2012 Christmas Classic all-tournament team.

UMS coach Jimbo Tolbert was pleased that his team didn’t quit. "It was a good game," he said "We had our chances at the end but it came down to getting stops on defense. We didn't win the 50-50 battles and the rebounds. Give credit to Spanish Fort, they have a great team and are well-coached."

Powell elaborated on how the combination of hard work with good attitudes and talent leads to success as well as the need to be challenged while knowing how to respond appropriately.

"When you have good kids that play really hard, good things can happen," he said. "But you have to keep that energy up. The success we have had so far has come about from just that, good kids playing hard and competing. That's what is going on now. We know that we have to bring it every night though or any opponent has the ability to beat us. We have to respect every opponent and not take them for granted."

The Toros took a 10-8 lead into the second period and led 24-18 at the half. Spanish Fort narrowly won the third 16-14 to lead by eight points (40-32) to start the final period. But the Toros’ scoring went cold for about six minutes while the Bulldogs edged back into comeback-striking range.

In preliminary games Spanish Fort defeated Citronelle while UMS-Wright defeated Mobile Christian. The Toros will travel to play Cannon County (Tenn.) in Destin, Fla. Thursday at 11:30 a.m. The Bulldogs will take part in the WQSB Christmas tournament in Albertville on Thursday and opens against John Carroll Catholic at 5:30 p.m.