MOBILE — Wilcox-Central head coach Mark Dukes knows his team has gone through a Murderers’ Row of sorts, but, with a smile on his face, he is ready for the challenge the Class 5A state championship tournament presents.

“We’re ready for the challenge,” Dukes said after his Jaguars knocked off the Selma Saints Saturday night 63-54 to claim the Class 5A South regional championship and earn a trip to Birmingham next week.

“We knew we had to battle tonight and at points tonight it didn’t look good,” Dukes said. “But, our perseverance paid off.”

The Jaguars trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and by as many as seven points in the second half, but was able to overcome the deficits and a tough Selma Saints team.

“We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and start looking at next year,” a dejected Selma head coach Woodie Jackson said. “We had our chances tonight, but we couldn’t take advantage of them.”

Selma led 31-24 with 6:32 left in the third quarter after senior forward Charles Eaton scored, but that was the last time the Saints would hold such a lead.

The Jaguars, after Eaton’s basket, went on a 10-3 run over the next four minutes to tie the game at 34 with 2:15 left in the game.

The lead would switch hands between both teams throughout the remainder of the third quarter and most of the fourth until Wilcox-Central’s Fredrick Turner hit a three-pointer with 1:35 to play, giving the Jaguars a 52-48 lead.

“That was a huge shot for us tonight,” Dukes said. “Federick had a terrible night shooting the ball, but I told him to keep shooting. If he had a good look he needed to shoot it and he did. That was huge.”

After that, the Jaguars capitalized at the free throw line and took advantage of Selma turnovers to stretch the lead to the comfortable 9-point lead that was the difference.

Wilcox-Central will now move on the Class 5A tournament next week in Birmingham. Their opening game will be Friday evening.

“I don’t know how many people were in Camden tonight,” Dukes said, commenting on the large Jaguar fan contingent on hand in Mobile. “But the town is going to shut down next Friday. Only the police department will be around.”

Everette Bennett led the Jaguars with 15 points while Freddie Smith added 13 points. Turner finished the game with 10 points.

For Selma, the Saints were led by Eaton’s 24 points and Malcolm Riley’s 11 points.