Georgiana had a short 6-0 run mid-way through the fourth period, and the Panthers held on late to beat Red Level 62-56 in the 14th annual RLS invitational Christmas tournament championship on Friday night.

Panthers guard Adrian Richard led GHS with 25 points, and tournament MVP Keon Binion chipped in 11 points in a game that was close throughout the first three periods of play.

The Tigers are now 9-7 with the second place finish, and will have a little break before getting back to regular season action on Jan. 3 against Opp.

Moving forward, RLS coach Allen Catrett said there certainly some “positives” to take away from the tournament.

“We play hard,” Catrett said. “Sometimes we’re making it hard on ourselves. We get a stop, and you let them get an offensive rebound, that’s what hurt us (Friday night).”

The score was tied at 40-40 with 6:07 left in the contest when the short run occurred.

The Panthers went up by two on a pair of free throws, and then increased their lead to four with an assist from Rich that led to an easy basket.

Ricky Everett added a steal and successful transition play to end the run and force an RLS time out.

From there, the Panthers took control of the game, using their strong players for an inside game Red Level couldn’t stop at times.

Georgiana led 56-47 on a Rich drive to the bucket, and after Red Level’s Raheem Bullock got a steal and put away a jumper, the Tigers took a time out to regroup.

“We didn’t step in front of him (Rich) like we should have,” Catrett said. “If we step in front of him and take charge and get a few more rebounds, then it’s a different ball game.”

With 47.3 seconds left, GHS increased its lead to 58-49, and Rich added two points on a foul to complete a 3-point play for a 10-point, 59-49 lead.

RLS didn’t give up on the stretch, bringing the game back to single digits at 61-52 off of a KJ Lawrence 3-point play.

Troy Nolen had eight points and nine rebounds for RLS. Lawrence had 24 points to lead the Tigers, and added seven rebounds.

Georgiana led 12-7 after the first period, but the Tigers went on a 7-0 run in the second period to lead 16-12 to force a Panthers time out.

The Tigers led 22-19 at half time, and the game was tied at 36-36 going into the fourth period.

Additionally, Red Level’s Tim Sims had 10 points.