BIRMINGHAM—The Pinson Valley boys basketball team had been there before, and it showed on Wednesday afternoon in Legacy Arena, as the Indians beat Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 54-51 in the Class 6A state semifinals.

After leading by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter, Pinson Valley found itself clinging to a three point advantage with 18 seconds remaining on the clock. First-year head coach Darrell Barber called for a double team on the game’s leading scorer—Hillcrest senior JaLon Johnson—and closed out of a second-chance 3-point opportunity at the buzzer to survive the day and punch a ticket to the state championship game Saturday.

“Fortunately, we had been in that situation a couple times,” said Barber of that final sequence.”I just told them to play sound and know where [Johnson] is. They wanted to win the game, so we just locked in. We’ve been in that situation before so there was no panic in the huddle.”

Pinson sophomore Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry extended the lead to 54-51 moments earlier with a 2 for 2 effort at the charity stripe. He paced the Tribe with 18 points and six rebounds. McKinstry also logged a 7 for 7 day at the free-throw line.

Kameron Woods scored 13 points on a team-high 32 minutes of play. Marques McConico Jr. added 11 points and Gordon Pollard finished with 10.

Two Patriots scored in double figures, as Johnson went home with 27 and Christian Jones finished with 13.

“We pretty much knew that the offense ran through him [Johnson] and we knew he would score… we just wanted to make it hard for him to see the ball. I think he wore down a little bit in the second quarter, but he’s a tremendous player,” said Barber of Hillcrest guard JaLon Johnson.

The seventh-ranked Indians outscored Hillcrest 20-13 in the second quarter and locked down on the defensive end for an 11-6 win in the third. It was, however, the Patriots that started fast out of the gate, jumping out to a 13-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

“If you really look at our roster, we’ve only got two players that have been here,” said Barber. “When you get on this stage, it’s a different animal.”

He also credited his defense for setting the tone and leading to more offensive opportunities.

Pinson Valley will play No. 8 Carver-Montgomery (23-10) for the Class 6A crown on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. in Legacy Arena at the BJCC.

“That’s our goal to win it, man,” said Barber. “It’s not about myself, it’s not about Kam [Woods] or whatever… but to bring a state title to Pinson Valley High School, it speaks volumes. The way they’ve rallied behind us from the churches in the community to the administration. It would be indescribable.”