The Haralson County High School boys basketball team saw a five-point halftime deficit nearly balloon out of control before the Rebels rallied back against Cleburne County (Ala.) on Wednesday night before falling in a 57-43 contest to close out their play at the 34th Annual Haralson County Invitational Tournament.

“We made a little run at them there in the fourth, had a chance to cut it under 10, but we came back a little bit. They showed a little resiliency,” Haralson County coach Whitt Brown said. “Really, just had a hard time putting the ball in the hole.”

The Tigers built their biggest lead of the night at 42-24 on a Dakota Clark bucket, but the Rebels (3-8) wouldn’t give in, battling back to 45-35 on a Brandon Parker bucket with 4:34 left.

That, though, would be as close as the Rebels got the rest of the way.

Cleburne County shot 26 free throws on the night, knocking down 16 of them, while the Rebels were 2-of-11 in the first half, although they picked it up in the second half, knocking down 12-of-18 in the final 16 minutes.

Cody Maria’s 18 points and six rebounds led the Rebels, while Parker (12 points) also reached double figures. Taylor Jones (18 points) led the Tigers.

In all, Brown said the tournament went well.

“For us, we were real slow to start with. But it’s been a great tournament,” Brown said. “All the teams have been great. All the fans have been great. It’s just another successful tournament overall.”

In other boys action from the Invitational:

Cherokee County 67, Bremen 54: The Blue Devils (1-7) fell behind 27-15 at the half and cut the deficit under 10 going into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t pull out a second-straight victory.

Dylan Morgan (27 points) and Matt Parker (17 points) led Bremen offensively, while Keon Rucker (23 points) and Coty Blanchard (18 points) led Cherokee County.