Tabernacle Christian’s girls basketball team will play on the final day of their Torch Classic tournament Saturday. But for the first time in recent memory, the Tabernacle boys will not.

Candace Coleman scored 35 points to match the team total of Alethia Christian of Pensacola, Fla., as the Lady Torches won 45-35 Friday to advance to the girls championship.

“She was just knocking the lights out,” said coach Philip Coleman. “She just nailed her shots, and their best player played man-to-man on her all night.

Tabernacle plays Peoples Baptist of McDonough, Ga. in the girls final Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

The Torches’ boys fell in the first round Thursday night to Alethiea Christian by three points, then lost by that same margin Friday afternoon, as Northside Methodist Academy of Dothan won 65-62 in the consolation bracket semifinal.

Tabernacle stayed neck and neck with Northside until early in the fourth quarter, when the Knights broke away with a 10-2 run. Jeremy Holcombe hitting six of nine 3-point attempts; his late shots cut the Northside lead from nine points down to three, but a last-gasp attempt on an inbounds play with :00.5 left went awry.

From staff reports