MOBILE — No. 7 Hillcrest-Evergreen outscored second-ranked Andalusia 26-9 in the fourth period, and walked away with a 68-57 victory in the boys Class 4A South Regional finals Saturday night.

The Bulldogs held a 48-42 lead going into the final period of the contest, and in spite of the lopsided fourth period, didn’t give up.

Andalusia’s Corinthian Sims, who led the Bulldogs with 24 points, scored 18 in the first half, and was held to zero points in the fourth.

“I feel much worse for those guys in the dressing room than I do anybody else,” AHS boys coach Richard Robertson said. “You’ll read about it in the paper, or see the score on TV and feel like it was a bad ball game, but it was not.”

With 1:39 to go, the Jaguars outscored Andalusia 10-0, where they were 8-of-10 from the free-throw line at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center.

Jaguars head coach Warren Roberts Jr. said his team dug and dug to pull out the win.

“I told them when we were in the locker room that there would come a time in the game where they would have to dig down deep, depending on how you respond to being down or how you resond when you come out,” Roberts said. “I tried to remind them that championships don’t come easy.

“I’m just so proud of my guys,” he said.”I don’t have any words for it.”

Earlier in the fourth period, trailing 55-54, Hillcrest-Evergreen’s Chris Howard drained a tres with 3:10 remaining to give his team a two-point edge, which gave the Jaguars the needed momentum to pull out the win.

“We started turning the ball over,” Robertson said about the fourth period. “They started shooting threes, and we gave them second or third shots.”

Tournament MVP Chris Joyner led the Jaguars (26-6) with 19 points. Barron Smith and Barry Smith had 13 points each.

Jacard Townsend, Quayshaun Denson and DeUnta Benson had eight points each for Andalusia, who finished its season 31-3.

Hillcrest-Evergreen and Andalusia were even from the field at 24-of-50.

The Jaguars led 15-14 after the first period, and trailed 35-31 at half time.

Andalusia ended its season as the second-winningest team in school history. The 1996 AHS team won 32 gams and the state title.

Class 4A South Regional All-Tournament Team:

Deundre Lyons and Chris Joyner, Hillcrest-Evergreen; Jahwon Williams, Headland; Cedric Pierce, Escambia County; Corinthian Sims and Derrick King, Andalusia.