The Greenville Tigers squeezed by Monroe County in the first round of the area tournament only to come up short against Wilcox-Central in Monday’s championship.

Wilcox came away with a 75-57 win despite two of the best quarters of basketball head coach Bryant Marlow said he’s seen all year.

“We came out in the first half and played some good basketball,” he said. “I would say that’s one of the best halves we’ve played all year.”

After that first quarter, the score was knotted at 20 and the Tigers only trailed 36-30 at halftime.

In the third, Wilcox started pulling away, but the fourth quarter is when they put it out of reach.

“In the fourth quarter, we just shut down,” Marlow said. “They hit a couple of threes back to back. The closest we could get was 11, and I felt like if we could have gotten it under 10 we would have had a shot.”

Jacques Burnett was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 16 points, and Brentley Hill had 15.

Nick McHenry added 12 points.

To reach that championship game, the Tigers defeated Monroe County 58-56 in a tight game.

McHenry was the top scorer in that game with 14 points.

Now Greenville must take on the No. 2 team in 5A — Eufaula.

“They’re a pretty solid team, so we’re going to have our hands full,” Marlow said. “It’s time to win or go home. If we can get on the same page, we’ve got a chance to win some games.”

That game is set for 6 p.m. this Friday night in Eufaula.