Spence Massey gave it his best effort Tuesday, scoring all 15 of his points in the second half, but the Panthers could not overtake Brookwood in the region play-in game. Brookwood won, 61-55.

CHULA — Tiftarea Academy battled to the end, but the Panthers’ basketball season ended Tuesday night. The Panthers fell to Brookwood, 66-55, in a play-in game in the Region 3-AAA tournament.

“The better team won tonight,” said Tiftarea head coach Mike Patrick.

Tiftarea trailed for all but one minute of the contest, but had the gap at three points, 56-53, with 14 seconds left in the fourth.

Down 46-34 going into the final frame, the Panthers got two baskets in 20 seconds from Brandon Mullis and Spence Massey, the latter off a steal.

With five minutes to go, Brookwood was ahead 50-40, but the Panthers began rolling. Massey assisted Mullis under the goal, then Cain Cooper went all the way down the court after a defensive rebound. Down six, Massey cut it to four points at 3:50.

Brookwood responded with a deep three-pointer from Noah Owens in the right corner, making the score 53-46. Tiftarea responded with a 6-2 run, culminating with a Logan Crosson steal and lay-up at 1:52. The score was now 55-52.

Unable to get a turnover, Tiftarea had to foul. J.P. Chapman hit a single free throw at 0:44. Riley Mims tried a three-point shot for the Panthers, but was fouled on the play. Mims hit one of his free throw attempts.

Chapman went to the line for Brookwood and he connected on both tries. Tiftarea got back to within three points, 58-55, when Massey hit two free shots after he was fouled with 14 seconds remaining.

But Brookwood avoided nail-biting at the end.

Chapman made two free throws a second later and Harrison Owens provided the final score with a free shot with four seconds left.

Brookwood controlled the first half Tuesday as a high-spirited Tiftarea squad was called for two technical fouls in the second quarter.

The Warriors were ahead 15-7 after the first quarter. Crosson and Cooper scored five points to open the second, but the first technical went against Tiftarea. Chapman made two free throws and the Warriors were soon ahead eight points.

Tiftarea cut the lead down to four points in the last 30 seconds of the half, but the second technical gave Chapman two more points from the stripe. The Warriors were up 28-20 at intermission.

The Panthers had a 7-0 run in the third, cutting a 10-point deficit to three. Brookwood outscored them the rest of the period 11-2, setting up the final quarter.

Massey and Mullis carried the Panthers in the fourth quarter. Massey, who had zero points at the half, scored 15 during the final 16 minutes. Mullis had six in the fourth quarter, 14 overall.

Chapman had 17 points, Noah Owens scored 16 and Harrison Owens had 13.

Patrick praised his team’s heart during their last game of the year. The Panthers, who won four games in each of their past two seasons, had five this year, including the team’s first back-to-back wins in three years and first region road game in two years.

Besides the five wins, four more games were decided by six points or fewer.

“We improved,” said Patrick.

While Tiftarea returns nearly every player for 2018-19, he said he would particularly miss four of them.

“We lost four good seniors,” he said. Josh Jones, Cain Cooper, Riley Mims and Neel Patel all graduate. Mims was the team’s leading scorer this season.