Holly Pond's Cody Jones collides with a West Morgan player during Tuesday's sub-regional game.

HOLLY POND — The sub-region of doom has claimed its second casualty at Holly Pond.

Hardly rewarded for winning their area tournaments, both Bronco basketball squads were tasked with needing to take out top-five opponents to move on to Wallace State. It ultimately wasn’t to be for either one, as Holly Pond’s top-ranked boys fell 73-68 to No. 4 West Morgan Tuesday at Felton Easterwood Gymnasium.

The Rebels (26-6) charge into the Northwest Regional Tournament, where they’ll face No. 7 Winfield in a Class 3A semifinal Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Broncos, who had their winning streak snapped at 12, finished the season 26-4. Their only losses were to 6A No. 3 Cullman (twice), 2A No. 1 Cold Springs (by one point on the road) and West Morgan.

“I told our guys I don’t think there’s another sub-regional in the state that was as tough as what we had to go through with all the teams in it that are ranked,” Holly Pond coach Mitch Morris said. “Most of the teams around the state, that sub-region game you’re hosting, you’re not facing a really, really good team. West Morgan’s really good, well-coached.

“I think they just came out a little more on fire than we did.”

The Rebels did indeed come out swinging. They jumped out to a 15-4 lead and were up 19-12 at the end of the first quarter, a deficit that could’ve been worse if not for Nathan Duke’s 3-pointer before the buzzer.

Austin Smith started a 7-0 run and Cody Jones capped it with a rim-rattling trey to even the score, but West Morgan responded with a 10-2 surge of its own to retake control by halftime.

It got as close as three points in the third quarter before the Rebels countered with a 6-0 run to again provide some distance.

Some hot shooting allowed West Morgan to balloon its advantage to as many as 11 in the final frame. Instead of panicking, however, Jones fully embraced the thought of a comeback bid, pouring on Holly Pond’s final 13 points to nearly play hero.

The senior scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and a game-high 29 overall, none louder than the twine tickler from behind the arc that pulled the Broncos within 66-64 with about two minutes left.

The Rebels’ answer — a 3 by Parker Henson on the very next possession — was just as deafening, though, keeping the visitors out front by a pair of scores.

Holly Pond had one last chance to tie it after four straight points from Jones and a pair of free throws from West Morgan’s Joshua Workman, but the Green and Gold’s long-range attempt misfired and sent the ball bouncing toward the baseline. A Bronco saved it but inadvertently tossed the ball right into the waiting hands of Henson, who darted down the court and iced the upset with a layup.

Jones could’ve never imagined his prep career coming to a close with another team celebrating on his home floor. In the senior’s defense, he did as much as humanly possible in the fourth quarter to try and stop it.

“I just knew it was win or go home,” a sullen Jones said in the locker room. “It was just something I felt like as a senior should’ve stepped up and do the right things to get us a win. We had some stuff along the way that didn’t go our way, especially with Austin fouling out early, so we had to have people step up at certain times. I found my shots open and props to my teammates for getting me the ball when I was hot, because I can guarantee you right now, none of this year happens without them.

“That’s a 100 percent guarantee.”

Added Morris on Jones: “He stepped up and was the leader. He did everything that he could to get us into this ballgame. He’s got heart, he’s a competitor and just a great young man. I just hate for him to put his heart and soul into it and come up short like we did.”

The coach was also extremely sympathetic toward Smith, who fouled out with 4:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. It didn’t take long for the forward to be tagged with his third foul in the second quarter, and the trend continued when Smith drew his fourth only two-and-a-half minutes into the third.

The senior, generally a threat to go off for 20-plus points, was held to just four in the limited minutes he spent on the court.

“I hate for it to end this way, especially for Austin,” Morris said. “He just could not get in a rhythm. For whatever reason, the officials had his number. I hate it for him. It was frustrating for all of us, and I know it was frustrating for him sitting on the bench most of the fourth quarter just eating himself up because he couldn’t be out there with teammates helping out.

“But you can’t go back and change that.”

Bailey Smith secured double digits with 12 points, and Duke came close with nine on a trio of treys. Matt Cahoon chipped in eight points, and John Phillips and Drew Jones added three.

Holly Pond did make nine 3’s but were uncharacteristically cold most of the evening. Morris gave all the credit for that to West Morgan.

“They defended us probably better than anybody we’ve seen this year for the most part,” he said. “They did a good job scouting us. They knew our shooters. They guarded them. They guarded Drew. He couldn’t get open for anything. They challenged everything and we had to earn everything.”

Henson paced the Rebels with 22 points. Workman was responsible for 16, and Peyton Mullican and Keandre Swopes both had 11.

Though Tuesday’s loss will surely sting for the foreseeable future, Holly Pond’s senior class — which is made up of the elder Jones and Smith, as well as Duke and Phillips — has plenty of positive memories to look back on. Jones and Smith were especially valuable to Green and White squads that reached the state tournament in 2012-13, made the regional final last season and earned the program’s first top ranking with a couple of double-digit win streaks this season.

To top it off, the entire quartet contributed to the first county championship for Holly Pond’s boys since 2002.

“It’s been a ride,” Jones said through tears. “It’s been awesome. I definitely have no regrets going through Holly Pond.”