By DREW GRANTHUM/Staff Writer

A promising start ended up in a tough finish for the Chilton County High School boys basketball team, as the Tigers fell, 77-71, in a close matchup with the Marbury Bulldogs on Tuesday.

After watching the girls basketball squad fall to Marbury, 44-22, the Tigers opened up with a strong start, getting out to a 7-0 run courtesy of baskets by Cade Hatch, JeQuaries Martin and a free throw by Tolliver Gilliland.

After a three-pointer by Marbury, the Tigers kept rolling, with Hatch netting a pair of free throws and Devin Austin adding a basket to extend the lead to 11-5.

Despite the strong start by the Tigers, the Bulldogs came roaring back, taking a 12-11 lead at the 2:38 mark whilst going on a 17-0 run on the back of four three-pointers to take a 22-11 lead before Hatch stopped the streak with a Tiger basket.

Hatch added a pair of free throws and a basket to close out the first period, with the Tigers trailing 25-17.

Marbury again came out shooting strong to start the second period, as the Bulldogs opened with a 10-0 run to open up a 35-17 lead on the Tigers.

Martin stopped the run with a basket, and Hatch added one to cut the lead to 37-21. The Tigers then went on an 12-7 run, using a pair of free throws by Hatch, as well as buckets by Martin and Austin to cut the lead to 44-32 at half.

The Tigers came out of the half strong, wearing down the Bulldogs and cutting the lead to 49-46 with under five minutes to go in the quarter, but Marbury stormed back out in front with an 8-0 run to take a 57-46 lead.

Back-to-back CCHS baskets by Austyn Ray cut the deficit to five, but a Marbury bucket right before the buzzer gave the Bulldogs a 59-50 lead heading into the final period of play.

Martin opened the fourth with a basket to cut the lead to seven in favor of Marbury, with Hatch and Marbury’s Henry Gardner trading buckets for the next four points for each team.

Down 67-56, the Tigers made another charge, with Austin, Gilliland and Martin leading a 6-0 run to cut Marbury’s lead to 67-62. The Bulldogs responded with a 6-2 run, with the lone CCHS basket coming courtesy of Hatch.

The Tigers made one last run at the lead late in the fourth. Trailing 73-64, Hatch and Austin added a pair of baskets to cut the lead to five once again, but it was all the squad could muster, as the Bulldogs held on for a 77-71 win.

Head coach Deon Timmons said he was proud of his team’s performance despite the loss.

“The effort was great.,” he said. “We could’ve done a few things different. We missed a few easy baskets. Turnovers hurt us. You take away the turnovers, the effort was there, (but) the ball just didn’t fall for us.”

Hatch led the Tigers with 31 points, while Tolliver had 12. The Tigers fell to 3-6 overall, but remained 0-2 in area play. The Tigers look to regroup against Maplesville on Dec. 18.