COVINGTON, Ga. — The third quarter wasn’t the charm for Bainbridge’s Bearcats, as they lost at Alcovy, 74-65, in the second round of the Class AAAA playoffs Wednesday night, in Covington, Ga.

The teams were tied at 26-26 at halftime, but Alcovy’s shooters came to life in the third quarter. The Tigers outscored Bainbridge 27-15 in the third, and Alcovy was 5-for-6 from three-point range in that quarter.

“We had lots of tape on this team, but I had never seen them shoot as well as they did tonight,” Bainbridge coach Rickey McCullough said. “We knew they would come at us in waves. I’m proud of our kids; they fought until the end.”

Paul Chukes led Bainbridge (23-6) with 23 points, Trea Kelly had 16 points and Dontavious Marshall added 10. Rodney Glenn added eight points, Mike Jones finished with six points and Dillen Thomas had two.

After Alcovy’s Michael Tucker dunked with 3:00 remaining in the game, the Bearcats trailed 63-49. But Bainbridge did not quit, as Kelly, Marshall and Jones each hit three-pointers late to trim into the deficit.

The Bearcats were only down 71-65 when Jones hit his second three-pointer of the fourth quarter with 17 seconds left, but Bainbridge was unable to cut into the lead any further.

“I was proud to see the fight in our kids late in the game,” McCullough said. “That’s the kind of fight that got us 23 wins this year. The scoreboard might not say it, but they’re all winners in my heart and mind.”

Bainbridge led 9-2 with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter, after Chukes hit a three-pointer that forced Alcovy to call its first timeout. The Bearcats still led by a slim 11-10 margin after the first quarter.

Chukes hit a short jumper with 3:30 remaining in the second quarter, helping Bainbridge increase its lead to 20-14 at the time. But Alcovy battled back and hit a shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 26-26 heading into halftime.

Devon Edwards led Alcovy (27-3) with 21 points and Tucker added 20.

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