HUNTSVILLE — The last time Fairview’s varsity girls garnered a spot in the Northwest Regional Tournament, Mary Hartline was suiting up for Good Hope and most of her current players were either in diapers or had yet to be born.

Let the long-awaited celebration begin.

The Aggies found their offense just in time during Monday night’s Class 5A sub-regional at Columbia to come away with a 52-36 triumph for their first trip back to Wallace State since 1997.

Leading just 28-25 entering the fourth frame, the Aggies outscored and outworked the Eagles 24-11 over the final eight minutes to grab the huge victory and send the Purple and Gold faithful into blissful pandemonium.

“They started overplaying and we got open looks,” Hartline said of her Aggie squad. “After we hit a couple of shots, I thought things kind of got easier for us. Taylor (Ann Yeager) had some lanes open up and pressure just wasn’t there for us anymore.”

Yeager led Fairview with 17 points, while Abbi Taylor tossed in a solid double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds).

Hartline’s group held Columbia to just 16 percent shooting from the floor while sinking 23-of-29 attempts from the charity stripe to help mask an offensive rebounding deficiency of 23-7.

“Sometimes we struggle to make our free throws, but we did it tonight,” the second-year coach said. “We’ll be working on boxing out, though. We have to be better at that.”

Other Aggie contributors were Jada Golden (eight points), Lizzie Garrison (six), Dalys Mullican (five), Abby Schnittker (three), Ally Hogeland (two) and Maci Yeager (one).

Fairview (15-16) will take on Ramsay, which defeated G.W. Carver 55-24, during next Monday’s 5A action inside Tom Drake Coliseum. The bout will start at 9 a.m.

“I’m so proud,” Hartline said. “They put in so much work — more than people know — to turn this thing around. It takes longer than one year to do something like that. They know what they’ve done.”

% Jackson-Olin 65, Cullman 59: The Lady Bearcats battled, battled and battled all the way to the final buzzer but simply ran out of time in a sub-regional loss to the Mustangs.

Coach Jonathan Hayes’ team trailed by as many as 14 points in the final stanza but trimmed the deficit to four two different times with a full-court press and resulting baskets.

Unfortunately, it simply wasn’t enough to overcome the home school.

“The girls did a great job to get back into the game,” Hayes said. “I’ve got to give J.O. credit, though. They made their free throws. We had too big of a hole to climb out of late. I’m proud of them, though. Ultimately, it’s been five years in a row in the playoffs. Something to be proud of.”

Cullman raced out to a 12-2 lead early, but a quick defensive switch by Jackson-Olin to a 1-2-2 squashed the offensive rhythm — despite a strong effort to get open looks.

“We got shots, but gosh, they just weren’t falling,” Hayes said. “We got some good-lookings ones, too, but the ball didn’t fall. Not until too late.”

Baylee Johnson scored 21 points in her final contest for the Black and Gold. She also tossed in eight assists and seven steals. Christina Skinner added 17 points and seven rebounds of her own.

“I’m very proud of all my seniors,” Hayes said. “They’ve been great girls throughout their whole careers. I’ll miss them.”

% Lauderdale County 64, Hanceville 28: The 3A No. 1 Tigers surged out to a huge halftime lead en route to an astonishing 80th straight win during Monday’s sub-regional bout against the Bulldogs.

Despite the lopsided defeat to the three-time defending state champions, coach Christina Warren and Co. earned 11 wins this season — more than the past three years combined — and won’t lose a single player from their roster come down the road in November.

“I’m very excited for next season,” Warren said. “It really can’t get here fast enough for us.”

Taylor Hollingsworth and Niya Evans paced Hanceville with eight points apiece, while Desi Hackney tallied six. Niya Evans and Kaela Hall had four each, and Karmen Johnson tossed in two.