Hartselle won the Junior varsity boys basketball championship by defeating Brewer, 49-45, on Saturday. Team members, from left, are (front) Caleb Finn, Jaxson Peebles, Jake Tiffin, Lane Anders; (back) head coach Greg Adams, Kyler Topps, Gage Johnson, Grant Jared, Taylor Dersham and Seth Ballew. | Clif Knight

The junior varsity Tigers saved the day for Hartselle High School’s basketball program by defeating Brewer 49-45 to win a Morgan County Tournament championship on Saturday.

The game was hard fought and close all the way.

Brewer was up 18-16 after one period and held a 23-19 advantage at halftime. Hartselle grabbed the lead in the third period on a 3-point bucket by Jaxson Peebles and converted six of seven free throws in the final two minutes to put the game away.

“It was a great win,” said Peebles. “We came out fired up and ready to play, and we finished strong by making our free throws at the end.”

“This was our fourth win in a row,” said head coach Greg Adams. “I’m proud of these kids,. “This is one of the most enjoyable teams I’ve coached.”

Lane Anders led the Tigers in scoring with 20 points. Kyler Topps followed with 11 points.  Peebles and Grant Jared had seven and six points, respectively. Jake Tiffin added three points while Caleb Finn had two.

Brewer was led by Riley Hall with 17 points. Desean Walker had seven points and Logan Gibson added six. Colton Pritchett scored five in the loss followed by Cole Crawley with four and Sean Honeycutt, Stan Ball and Aaron McDonald with two each.