The Straughn Tigers held off the Red Level Tigers for a 36-33 victory on Friday night in the third-place game of the 19th Annual Red Level Christmas Tournament.

“Mentally, we just didn’t come prepared today,” Straughn head coach Bradley Stephens said. “Last night, we put a lot of energy into the game against Georgiana, and today we were just mentally and physically drained. I have to give it to Red Level, though, they did an outstanding job executing and it took us a while to adjust.”

Red Level came out strong and took a 10-8 lead into the second period, and were up 17-14 at halftime.

Keaun Samuel then got the Straughn out front with 7 points in the third period to give the visiting Tigers a 26-24 lead heading into the final period.

Both teams continued to give each other their best effort, but it was the Straughn Tigers who were able to pull out the victory.

“I was pleased with our effort tonight,” Red Level head coach Allen Catrett said. “We played hard and we played a good game, but Straughn was able to hit a few more shots than we did. We will take a few days off and then we will get right back at it preparing for area.”

Samuel led Straughn with 11 points in the victory.

Ontaryo Nearor led Red Level with 12 points.