Opp put together a good defensive effort in the second half against Elba, but the Tigers pulled away when they needed to in a 51-30 victory over the Bobcats on Thursday night.

In the opener of the 47th annual Andalusia Invitational Basketball Tournament, the Bobcats stayed close with EHS throughout the first period. OHS managed to get a couple stops, and kept the game respectable by halftime.

EHS (8-0) kept its lead during the third period, and quickly made up for lost scores in the fourth as it scorched out to a 49-30 lead — its biggest of the night.

“Toward the end there we fought back,” OHS coach Sterling Driver said. “We played great defense in the second half, especially inside. We grabbed a lot of boards we very much needed. We just couldn’t convert there toward the end. We had a little momentum going there.”

Driver was correct because the Bobcats made a needed adjustment after halftime to make it more difficult for EHS — who didn’t make a 3-pointer all night — to get inside for easy buckets.

With this loss, the Bobcats fall to play Red Level today at 4:30 p.m. RLS lost 61-28 to Andalusia in the tournament’s first round. Elba advances to the right side of the bracket, where it will play AHS tonight at 7:30.

Elba took an early 2-0 lead in the first after a Martavious Gray jumper.

Opp’s Ty White, who got a block earlier on EHS stand out Nick Green, drove the lane for a 2-all tie.

Opp’s JaKeith Edwards drained a 3-pointer a little later to give the Bobcats a 5-4 lead in the first period.

White made a pair of free throws, and EHS then went on a 6-0 run to close out the opening period.

Denzel Thomas made two foul shots, Quinton Smith got a runner and Green made a nice layup from the baseline to give the Tigers a 6-0 run to start the second period.

Green went on to later get a putback and dunked his first of two one-handed slams with less than four minutes to go. His second dunk gave EHS a healthy 27-10 lead

Opp’s Tavise Stoudemire, who missed his first three 3-pointers of the night, finally found the net from the arch to spark a short 6-0 run after Edwards made another trey with 3 seconds left in the first half.

Opp cut it to 29-19 after White drove the baseline for an up and in.

Green then went on a little tear, getting a drive to go and forcing a steal, to which the pass went to Smith, who dunked it to make it 33-19.

Orlando Lacey made a fade away jumper to make it a 35-25 game by the end of the third period.

EHS, who moved the ball well in the paint all night, surged ahead thanks to a few steals and mid-range jumpers in the fourth period.

Green led EHS with 22 points. Thomas chipped in 12 points. Cobe Goosby got in seven points.

White led OHS with nine points. Edwards had six points, and Stoudemire had five.