The Andalusia Bulldogs earned a big victory on Saturday night after topping Escambia County 65-57 in the Class 4A, Area 2 championship in Andalusia.

With the win, the Bulldogs advance to tonight’s sub-regional contest tonight when they host Montgomery Catholic.

Escambia County opened up the contest with a 3-pointer, but that’s all the Bulldog defense would allow in the opening frame.

Ethan Wilson put the Bulldogs on the board with a layup off of an assist from Keaun Samuel.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good when B.J. Anderson dropped in a pair of free throws.

R.J. Drish followed with a 3-pointer and Trey Wilkerson ended the first period with a monster dunk to put the Bulldogs on top 9-3.

Escambia County scored first to start the second period and then Wilkerson knocked down a jumper to put Andalusia up 11-6.

Escambia County answered with a 3-pointer before Anderson buried a fade-away jumper that put Andalusia up 13-9.

A few moments later, Wilkerson hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up by five.

Escambia County inched closer with a 3-pointer before the Bulldogs went on a run.

Andalusia got back-to-back-to-back buckets from Samuel, Wilkerson and Anderson to go up 22-14.

Both teams continued to battle, but it was Andalusia who held a 27-19 lead at halftime.

Roosevelt Weaver popped a 3-pointer to start the scoring in the third period.

With 6:22 left in the third period, Weaver connected on a pair of free throws to put the Andalusia up 32-25.

The Bulldogs looked like they might begin to pull away as a bucket from Wilkerson and then and-one from Samuel gave Andalusia a 38-27 lead, but Escambia County wasn’t ready to give up.

Escambia County got three-straight baskets to cut the Andalusia lead down to 38-34.

Andalusia closed out the third period with buckets from Anderson and Weaver to take a 42-34 lead into the fourth period.

Escambia County opened up the scoring in the fourth period, but then a jumper from Samuel and a 3-pointer from Wilkerson inched the Bulldogs to a 47-36 lead.

Wilkerson then turned up the intensity with another 3-pointer that put a charge into his team and the home crowd.

Escambia County continued to try and inch their way back into the game, but every time they would get the score close the Bulldogs would slam the door shut.

The Bulldogs ended the game with free throws from Anderson to pull out the 65-57.

Trey Wilkerson led the way for the Bulldogs with 20 points.

Anderson finished the night with 15 points and Samuel finished the game with 11 points.

“I thought the start was probably the most important thing for us,” Andalusia head coach Anthony Clark said. “We talked about making them play from behind and us getting off to good start. I think we held them to three points in the first period. That was key. We played seven guys and I thought that every one that rotated in played within themselves. It was great team win. The two 3-pointers from Trey (Wilkerson) were huge and then just our ability to rebound tonight as well. Second half we gave up some, but late in the ball game we were limiting them to one shot. I felt really good about the way we took care of the ball. This is a great win for Andalusia. It’s been a long time since we have made it this far.”

Andalusia will take on Montgomery Catholic at 7, tonight in Andalusia.