Cullman's Lawson Schaffer drives past an Athens' defender during Friday's game.

HANCEVILLE — Cullman’s players, coaches and fans will gladly trade all the years lost from their lives in Friday’s nerve-wracking semifinal for the treasure trove of memories made in the craziest Northwest Regional Tournament clash in quite some time.

In front of a rare max capacity crowd at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum, Lawson Schaffer shined in the Bearcats’ greatest moment of need, leading a perfect team performance at the free-throw line and lifting the hometown squad to a 71-68 overtime triumph over Athens.

The Black and Gold’s Steel City shocker versus Mountain Brook was special. Their overtime Christmas victory against Holly Pond was epic.

But neither had anything on Friday’s battle between Class 6A heavyweights.

Cullman’s first-ever regional win was a big reason why.

“I’m still in shock,” said Schaffer, soaking up his first postgame press conference experience. “I can’t even feel my body right now. I’m just amazed. I know we made Cullman history today, so that just in itself is awesome.”

Though Schaffer certainly amazed — three slick spin moves and a mind-boggling 17 makes at the stripe highlighted a 34-point, six-rebound, five-assist line — there were so many heroes for the Bearcats it wasn’t even funny.

Seth Swalve picked up eight of his 14 points in a crucial third quarter, and Jason McAfee drained back-to-back treys to swing the momentum Cullman’s way in the fourth. Brontae Harris stepped up like a senior should, as did Slocumb, who combined with Nic Handley, Gage Goodwin and Elijah Price to keep Athens’ top threat, Trey Potts, in check for most — more on this later — of the thriller.

In the end, though, the difference was free-throw shooting.

Slocumb was the only player in black and gold not named Schaffer to take any attempts from the gimme distance, sinking two apiece in the fourth quarter and bonus period. Schaffer was 14 of 14 in the final 12 minutes to round out Cullman’s spotless showing.

Fast32? More like Perfect21.

The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, were 8 of 17. Their 3-of-8 mark in the fourth quarter and overtime was critical.

“We work on them (free throws) every day,” said coach Bobby Meyer, whose Black and Gold boys improved to 23-8. “You can’t beat that. That wins ballgames for you.”

Cullman made an uncharacteristically low six 3-pointers — but almost all of them came in clutch moments.

Harris pump faked a defender out of his shoes before draining his third and final trey in the third quarter. McAfee’s aforementioned pair fired up the Bearcats’ electric student section, while Schaffer’s swish from deep with a hand in his face nearly brought down the house.

The Black and Gold finished the second half and overtime 5 of 13 from behind the arc, a much-improved statistic considering their icy start.

When Schaffer and his teammates headed to the locker room down 28-20, he wasn’t too confident a win was in their cards.

“We were 1 of 14 at the 3-point line,” he said. “That’s what we do is shoot 3’s, and when you’re not doing what you do, you normally lose games like this. So for us to come out that second half and chip away, golly.”

Cullman’s initial comeback bid was halted when Athens’ Kwasi Hanson went down after an unrelated foul. The senior gingerly made his way to the floor, where he remained for 20-25 minutes until emergency medical services arrived with a stretcher. The injury, which was covered by a towel while Hanson was on the court, was later confirmed as a fractured right ankle.

To their credit, both teams didn’t lose a beat once play resumed.

The end appeared nigh for Athens after Schaffer banked in a left-handed layup and Slocumb sank a pair at the stripe with 13.8 seconds to go. Potts, a 6-foot-6 center, had other plans, however, sending the squads to overtime at 61-61 with a 3 just before the buzzer.

Meyer said he did consider heeding his assistants’ advice to put the Golden Eagles on the line instead of letting them take the tying shot but opted against it in fear of Potts, after a made free throw, securing a rebound and setting up a potential game-winner.

The Bearcats took control of a back-and-forth overtime when Slocumb and Schaffer reeled off four unanswered free throws to go up three. Athens pulled within one with an inside shot and had one last chance to win in the closing seconds, but a last-ditch layup came up just short.

Schaffer’s last two free throws iced the instant classic, raising his production after the third quarter to 21 points.

“It was the game we knew it was going to be,” Meyer said. “They know us, we knew them well, so it wasn’t going to be any secrets about how each team wanted to play.

“Both teams deserved to win that game. I’m glad we did.”

Harris and McAfee respectively corralled nine and six points — all from behind the arc — despite playing through a litany of injuries and ailments.

After the game, Meyer revealed Harris actually suffered two small fractures in his ankle during Cullman’s sub-regional and that McAfee and Price were plagued by the flu all week.

None of the trio ever considered sitting out the Sweet 16, especially Harris and McAfee, who realize playoff basketball means they’re always one game away from the end of their prep careers.

“At this point, I don’t really care about it,” Harris said of his ankle. “I’m just focusing on what I need to do best for the team. That’s all that matters to me right now. I can take the pain as long as I’m here for these guys if they need me.”

Added McAfee: “You just have to play through it. Especially at this time of year, it being senior year.”

Slocumb snagged six rebounds to go along with the four huge free throws. Goodwin matched Slocumb’s point total and also rose for four boards. Handley cleaned up six rebounds, and Price chipped in one. Swalve and Schaffer combined for five steals.

Jackson Pettus paced Athens (19-12) with 15 points. Terrance Watkins tacked on 13; Potts, 11; and John Williams, 10. Before his early departure, Hanson had eight points and three blocks. Potts had two swats.

Lee-Huntsville’s 66-53 win over Austin in the other semifinal sets up a regional title tilt between the top-ranked Generals and No. 3 Cullman next Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Meyer plans to use the break to “get some people healthy and 100 percent.”

“That’s going to be nice,” he said.

If Friday’s semifinal was any indication, fans planning to attend the championship game should arrive plenty early. Wallace State representatives said the ticket office closed for most of the second half Friday because Tom Drake Coliseum had reached its limit at around 5,000 spectators.