HANCEVILLE — Greg Brown had just watched his high-flying Lee-Huntsville boys cruise to a 92-69 win for the Northwest Regional Tournament championship, and the first thing he wanted to talk about was the kid who wore No. 2 for Cullman.

That player’s name? Lawson Schaffer.

Of course.

The senior closed out an illustrious prep career with the Bearcats in style Tuesday, letting loose for 31 last points, nine rebounds, five steals and a block in front of another big crowd at Wallace State.

“It’s a nightmare preparing for No. 2, that’s for sure,” Brown said unprompted while opening Lee’s postgame press conference. “He did about what I thought he would do. We did everything in our power to stop the kid. My hat goes off to him.

“I know that’s not what you want me to say, but I’m still in awe at how good this kid really is.”

The key to Tuesday’s Class 6A clash between top-three teams was height. The top-ranked Generals had plenty of it, while No. 3 Cullman, pure and simple, did not.

Using seven players ranging from 6’3” to 6’8”, Lee wasted no time jumping out front against a Black and Gold squad with no one taller than Nic Handley at 6’3”. A Schaffer trey and Seth Swalve putback gave the Bearcats the lead twice in the early goings, but the Generals took off on a 13-0 tear and finished the first quarter on a 15-3 run.

The Bearcats created several scoring opportunities during the stretch but just couldn’t convert. They were 1-of-5 on their first of an eventual 30-plus 3-point attempts.

“Making buckets was the name of our game, and we just did not make shots we normally make in a game situation,” Cullman coach Bobby Meyer said. “Our team has played well against big teams all year. It was just one of those things where they made a run, bumped it out to a double-digit lead and we couldn’t overcome it.”

Schaffer and Brontae Harris helped Cullman cut the deficit to nine just before halftime, only for Lee’s Malik Burnett to bank in a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Bearcats again pulled within nine to start the third quarter, but the Generals responded with a 7-0 surge and never looked back.

Lee’s length resulted in several lopsided statistics. The most glaring came in the rebounding and blocking departments, which the Generals respectively owned 41-25 and six to two. They also topped Cullman in field goal (60-37) and 3-point (46-42) percentages, making 32 of 53 in the former and 5 of 11 in the latter.

The Black and Gold countered with 20-of-54 and 13-of-31 clips.

Schaffer spun in his fair share of layups but still admitted “it was very difficult” trying to operate in the lane, usually his primary place of business. With that area of the court cut off, Schaffer opted for the rainbow route in the fourth quarter, wowing Tom Drake Coliseum with a pair of unbelievably high-arcing treys.

“They’re real long, and they’re real smart with how they play defense up in there,” Schaffer said of Lee’s discipline around the basket. “They don’t try to really just foul you, get into you. It was real tough.”

Fellow Bearcat senior Brontae Harris went out with four 3’s and 16 points despite playing his second straight game with two fractures in his ankle.

Harris, who cracked the 2,000-point plateau in December and finished with more than 2,300 for his career, was thankful Meyer and the entire Black and Gold program instantly made him feel like family after he transferred from Hanceville for his final year.

“It’s been real special,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade it back for anything. It’s been a great ride. We made an extra step that we all have never taken to get to the Elite Eight. That’s still something to look back on and be happy about.”

Cullman capped off a dream season, which included memorable wins against Parker, Mountain Brook, Holly Pond, Austin (twice) and Athens (the program’s first regional victory under the current playoff format), with a 24-9 record.

And to think, before the season, Schaffer had been on the phone almost daily with Meyer, hashing out “team problems” and the potential for a tough year.

“But we stuck through it,” Schaffer said. “That’s the one thing is we have each other’s back. For us to play like we did in big-game situations, that’s just a credit to us individuals.”

Six of those individuals — Schaffer, Harris, Jason McAfee, Chase Slocumb, Blake Purifoy and Joseph Franey — took part in their final high school game Tuesday.

Meyer made sure to shed light on the group’s accomplishments, most notably consecutive regional appearances and 20-win campaigns, as well as single-season state records for 3-pointers attempted and made.

Additionally, Schaffer ran away with the school’s all-time scoring record — he finished not far from 2,000 — while Harris took over the all-time boys mark for points scored inside Cullman County. The previous high — and current Cullman County Schools record — was 2,252 by Vinemont’s Jared Hembree.

“The seniors have won a lot of basketball for us,” Meyer said. They’ve left their mark on the game.”

Slocumb spent his final 32 minutes in black and gold draining a couple of 3’s and compiling eight points. Junior Seth Swalve, who leaves Cullman in good hands for next season, scored seven points and dished out four assists.

Freshman Elijah Price put in a free throw.

Schaffer and Harris repped the Bearcats on the All-Tournament Team, which included Lee’s Gerron Scissum (MVP), Malik Burnett (23 points) and Evan Wiley (11). Scissum had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Tracey Burnett added 19 points, eight boards and a game-high three blocks.

The Generals (26-6) will face either Paul Bryant or Homewood in one of two 6A state semifinals in Birmingham. If Lee goes on to win it all, it would mark the second straight season Cullman has been eliminated by the eventual state champion.

Parker was the culprit in 2014. Meyer wouldn’t be surprised if the Generals follow suit.

“They certainly are one team you’d pick to win any class right now,” he said. “They’re as good as any team we’ve seen. We’ve seen all the big teams throughout the state and have beaten some of them, but we just couldn’t pull it off today.”