Sawyer Hopkins made three big shots in the final minutes and John Ross Bone hit two three-pointers to help Morgan Academy survive a back-and-forth battle Saturday with Coosa Valley 65-55.

The Senators (7-8) led by as many as 14 in the first half, only to watch Coosa claw its way back into the game and take a 45-41 lead with just over five minutes to play. Morgan turned to Hopkins, who responded by fighting in the paint for three crucial shots.

“We spread the floor and said, ‘You are going to have to beat your guy one-on-one, because we know you’re a better player,’” Morgan coach Jacob Lyon said. “He answered the challenge got a couple of and-one’s and a couple of layups when we went through some dry spells.”

If Hopkins started the rally, Bone finished it. He nailed three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to turn a one score game into an eight-point lead with just over a minute to play.

Bone made a total of seven three-pointers in the game and led the Senators with 23 points.

“We came down and it’s a two-point game and he hit two huge threes right there in a row,” Lyon said.

The game was the final matchup of Morgan Academy’s Pepsi Classic, which matched up AISA teams from around the state. The Senators dropped their first two games of the tournament, but found a way to pull out a hard fought game Saturday.

Morgan seemed to be at the free throw line the entire game, shooting 56 free throws in the game. The Senators made only 24 of those, but were just aggressive enough to get by with a big win.

“We didn’t make enough free throws, but I think it kept them off balance some by having to substitute and change lineups,” Lyon said. “They play everybody because they rotated a lot of guys, but they had to play guys in positions they weren’t used to because we were able to get to the foul line.”

Coosa Valley (2-10) unveiled a new strategy Saturday, as the Rebels swapped lineups every two minutes throughout most of the game. Coosa head coach Jonathan Gill said they came up with the idea to try to keep his players fresh.

“We just started that because we have been having trouble with the kids playing hard,” Gill said. “They know they are going to be in a minute and a half, so that way they know every single time they have to go in fresh.”

After a slow start, the Rebels’ bench revived Coosa Valley’s chances. Morgan Academy scored the game’s first nine points and threatened to run away. The Senators led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter and 29-20 at halftime.

Coosa kept chipping away, outscoring the Senators 14-11 in the third to cut the lead to six.

Led by John Taylor and Fisher Williams, the Rebels scored 11 of the first 12 points in the fourth quarter to take a 45-41 lead.

“We played hard and rotated them in quick,” Gill said.

“There were a lot of things we did good, but when we got up, we didn’t want to take our foot off the gas but we had a couple of turnovers there.”

Morgan Academy will play Tuesday at Lowndes Academy.