With his team having eked out two wins over Carver-Montgomery this season, Selma coach Anthony Harris had a hard time relaxing prior to the Saints’ game with the Wolverines.

“I might’ve slept two hours last night,” said Harris. “Three times? That’s hard to do.”

An early run ensured Monday’s game would not be as close as the prior two, as No. 5 Selma knocked off Carver 58-45 to win clinch the Class 5A, Area 5 tournament championship.

“Overall, we had a good game tonight,” said Harris. “We did the things we needed to do. We ran the floor and made some easy baskets. We did a good job of controlling the ball down the stretch.”

Leading 12-9, a Jamanesha Carver 3-point play sparked an 11-0 Selma run to put the Saints ahead 23-9.

“I felt we were in the game at the beginning,” said Carver coach Michelle Simmons. “We didn’t execute our game plan. We had a lot of breakdowns.”

The Saints led 28-19 at the break, and opened the second half with three quick baskets to keep the momentum.

“I think that kind of broke their backs,” said Harris.

An Ashley Grimes layup made it 46-29 with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Wolverines made some noise late, as Shaniell Long hit a 3-pointer to close out the period and Audrianna Murphy opened the fourth quarter with a trey to trim the deficit to 46-35.

Kemesha Strong answered with a jump shot and Grimes hit two layups to extinguish the threat.

“They held on to the momentum,” said Simmons. “Basketball is a game of momentum. If they’ve got it and they’re scoring the baskets, it’s hard to get back in it.”

Grimes led the Saints with 23 points and Strong added 14.

Audrianna Murphy and Shatavia Farris led the Wolverines with 11 points apiece.