Cullman's Tucker Cagle lines up a shot.

HANCEVILLE — Tucker Cagle and Max Gambrill engaged happily with a rowdy student section.

Tucker Apel sought out Stu Stuedeman and embraced his first-year coach tightly — as if his very life depended on it.

An endless wave of fans drowned out Tucker Gambrill’s screams of joy inside Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum, as those donning the Black and Gold proudly and loudly cheered on their beloved Bearcats during a celebration every bit as triumphant as the victory that preceded it.

Indeed, Cullman’s basketball team partied like it was 1932.

The Bearcats dominated the second half against Scottsboro on Tuesday, beating the Wildcats 75-58 in the championship game of the Class 6A Northwest Regional Tournament and punching their ticket to the state tournament for the first time in 90 years.

“I feel like a little kid,” said a beaming Max Gambrill, who tallied a team-high 18 points. “I’ve dreamed of this day ever since I can remember. I remember watching the Elite Eight team in 2015 and thinking to myself, ‘That’s going to be me one day.’ It’s just amazing.”

Cagle, who produced a double-double — 14 points and 11 rebounds — said the Bearcats (27-3) had a season like this in them all along.

“It’s crazy, man,” he said. “People kind of don’t see the work we put in during the offseason. We realized we were built for it. We have a good staff, and we believe in each other. It’s really all coming together for us, and it’s an awesome feeling.”

Scottsboro (28-7) applied a ton of pressure on the Bearcats with its shotmaking in the first half.

The Wildcats swished 54 percent of their field goals, including a 7-of-14 mark from beyond the arc.

Cullman, though, stayed close by going 10 for 12 at the charity stripe and trailed 37-32 at halftime.

The second half was a completely different story.

And it all started with a clutch defensive play by Tucker Gambrill.

With his team trailing 40-33, the senior point guard swiped the ball from Scottsboro’s Tyson Sexton, who was driving to the basket after a Cullman turnover, sprinted down the court and finished at the other end for a huge four-point swing.

The key sequence jumpstarted a 9-0 run that included a Max Gambrill jumper and five points from Sam Duskin. Just like that, the Bearcats were back in front.

And they were just getting started.

A Cagle 3-pointer put Cullman in front 48-46 with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter.

Colton Echols added a free throw later in the period, and Apel scored on a drive inside to make it 51-46.

Apel and Tucker Gambrill then brought the crowd to its feet with back-to-back 3-pointers to help the Black and Gold to a 57-48 advantage entering the final eight minutes of the contest.

“It was just fantastic,” Stuedeman said of the crucial stretch. “It’s what we’ve been training for all year. It’s what these guys have been working for all year. It’s all the weights, all the defensive drills, all the nit-picky stuff. Tucker gets that steal because he sprints to the goal and cuts off the angle. You don’t know just how many times I put that on film, where he doesn’t sprint to the rim. But he did it at the biggest moment of the season — and that’s exactly what it’s all about.”

Scottsboro, however, didn’t make Cullman’s coronation easy.

The Wildcats, a Final Four squad last season, kept fighting and eventually made it 62-58 on a Sexton trey with 4:20 remaining in the game.

But the Black and Gold’s defense and depth — the star attributes in a season full of many — turned up at just the right time.

Cullman forced a couple of turnovers before a Cagle layup and a pair of free throws from Tucker Gambrill stretched the lead back out to eight.

Then, after yet another Scottsboro turnover, Jamar Kay drained a corner 3-pointer that put the Bearcats ahead 69-58 with 2:45 left on the clock.

That shot capped a 32-5 edge for the Bearcats in bench points.

Tucker Gambrill and Garrison Sharpe closed out a 13-0 run at the free-throw line, where the Black and Gold made 23 of their 29 attempts.

“We just kept going and kept going,” Max Gambrill said. “That’s been our best asset this season. We can be up 10 or down 10, but we’re still going to keep coming.”

According to Stuedeman, that relentless mentality is the product of his squad’s camaraderie.

“These guys just love each other too much to ever get down when we get down,” he said. “They don’t quit or give in. They always pick each other up. And they have so much investment in this … there’s no way they’re going away.

“This was an amazing game with two great basketball teams. Our will had to be better than their will. We outlasted them with our style of play, our pressure, our hard-nosed rebounding, our willingness to share the basketball. We really stepped up in the second half. We are a resilient team. We continue to guard and rebound no matter what the score is. We just wear people down.”

Apel racked up 11 points to join Max Gambrill and Cagle in double figures, while Sharpe, Tucker Gambrill and Duskin each netted nine. Kay (four) and Echols (one) rounded out the scoring.

Max Gambrill earned MVP honors, while Tucker Gambrill joined him on the All-Tournament Team.

Cullman will face Park Crossing, which beat Eufaula 59-58 to win the Southwest Regional Tournament, in the Final Four next Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. The Thunderbirds are 27-4 this season.

Advancing to the state tournament is one thing. Playing for — and possibly winning — a state title would be something else entirely.

“It’s very special,” Cagle said. “Coach Stu told us in the locker room, ‘You make it there, it’s awesome. But don’t be satisfied, because that’s when teams lose.’ We’re going to prepare this next week, get our bodies right and then get after it.”