Chayse Elliott watches a shot Wednesday against Tanner.

It was a tough day at the office for Tim Burleson’s Cold Springs team.

One glance at the scoreboard and it told the whole story.

Second-ranked Tanner’s athleticism was more than the Eagles could handle Wednesday night as they fell 71-41 to the defending Class 2A state champions in the boys semifinal game of the Northwest Regional Tournament.

“We’ve seen them a couple of times, and you kind of have to pick your poison with them,” Burleson said.

The Eagles went in with a plan to limit 6-foot-5 Jace Haggermaker and the Rattlers inside presence — which they did for the first quarter. But who needed Haggermaker when the Rattlers had Greg Maclin?

Maclin had 14 points at the half, nine of which came from behind the 3-point line.

After that performance, Cold Springs switched its attention to Maclin in the second half. But that didn’t hurt the Rattlers either, as the inside guys, like Haggermaker, finally put points on the board.

“Unless you can match them athletically, they’ve got to be off their game some way,” Burleson said. “We were hoping they would have a problem shooting the ball outside, and that was the case tonight.”

Tanner finished the night with three players in double figures. Maclin was the team leader with 18 points. Austin Harris tossed in 12 points, while Fred Rich had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Cold Springs had three players finished in double figures as well. Chayse Elliot had a double-double, scoring 15 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Layne Rice and Colton Henderson had 11 points apiece.

Ashley Graves can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 225 or by email at agraves@cullmantimes.com.