‘Our kids weren’t going to lose.’ No. 1 Great Crossing survives Bryan Station to advance.

Great Crossing didn’t get to be the state’s consensus No. 1 boys high school basketball team by shrinking from a challenge.

Bryan Station’s Defenders drove up I-75 and gave them one in the 11th Region Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday night in front of a packed house on their home court in Georgetown.

But after trailing by three points at halftime, the Warhawks switched gears on defense and rallied to a 69-61 victory to advance to Saturday’s region semifinals.

“Coaches have put us in positions like this all year,” said Great Crossing’s Vince Dawson III, who scored a team-high 22 points. “Our strength of schedule has been pretty good this year, so we’ve had a lot of close games down the stretch. I think that played a part in us being so relaxed.”

Great Crossing forced eight of Bryan Station’s 13 turnovers in a decisive third period Dawson capped with a 3-pointer from the right corner just before the quarter horn for a 52-46 lead.

Dawson received the ball in transition off a feed from Junius Burrell after Bryan Station’s second turnover in a span of 10 seconds under the Warhawks’ full-court press. Burrell led the Warhawks with nine assists and five steals. Dawson was inches away from a roaring Great Crossing student section when he let it fly.

“I turned around and looked at everybody and everybody was cheering. It doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.

Moments later, teammates Malachi Moreno and Jeremiah Godfrey got loose for dunks that twice extended the Warhawks’ lead to 10 points. Great Crossing outscored Bryan Station 22-11 over the first 10 minutes of the second half to seize control of the game.

It all began at the start of the second half with Great Crossing’s switch to a zone defense, which stymied Bryan Station’s offensive tempo.

“Douglass played that zone against them on Friday night, so we put it in this week for a change-up, and we needed it,” Great Crossing coach Steve Page said. “But, honestly, the difference in the game was our kids weren’t going to lose. They found a way to get stops and make it happen.”

Great Crossing had trouble containing Bryan Station’s standout sophomore guard Amari Owens in the first half. Owens had 18 of his game-high 31 points at the break. The rest of the Defenders played well, too. Bryan Station led for most of the first half and extended their advantage to as many as eight points three times in the second quarter.

“We knew coming in he was going to be hard to stop. You see him on film, but we haven’t really seen them live this year,” Page said of Owens and the Defenders. “We knew they were big. I think they were a little bigger and tougher than I even thought they were going to be.”

The Warhawks (32-1) have been no stranger to taking an opponent’s best shot in the early going this season. They’ve trailed against the likes of North Oldham, Male and Lexington Catholic and prevailed.

“We’ve been in that spot so many times this year — down five, down eight — the experience there at the end could have made the difference in the game,” Page said.

Even so, Bryan Station later narrowed the Warhawks’ advantage to 65-61 with 1:50 to play, but missed free throws and another critical turnover down the stretch allowed Great Crossing’s Moreno to extend the lead back to 67-61 on a dunk with 46 seconds left. Moreno added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to finish the game with 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks.

In addition to Owens’ 31 points, fellow sophomore Taeshawn Adams added 14 for the Defenders, who finished the season with a 23-8 record after back-to-back losing seasons during coach Champ Ligon’s three-year project to rebuild the Pride of the Northside.

“It’s been three years of building, and I’m really proud of our senior class because they went through some rough times the last few years,” Ligon said. “I think we showed tonight we belong out there with anybody.”

Great Crossing next faces 44th District champion Madison Southern in Saturday’s 4 p.m. region semifinals game at Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Tuesday’s other quarterfinals

Frederick Douglass 64, Madison Central 44: DeMarcus Surratt and Armelo Boone scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, as the Broncos (21-12) pulled away to a comfortable win over the visiting Indians (10-23).

Douglass, the 42nd District champions, led 16-5 after one quarter and by as many as 23 points in the second half. Christopher Wright added nine points and went 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Cody Morrison led Madison Central with 18 points.

Douglass will face Lexington Catholic in Saturday’s noon semifinals game at Dunbar in what will be a rematch of last season’s region championship that Douglass won 43-41. Key players from that tilt return for both teams.

Madison Southern 76, Lexington Christian 70: Despite an abysmal start that saw them trail 17-4 after the first quarter, the Madison Southern Eagles (23-9) rallied to victory over visiting LCA (15-16).

Madison Southern used a 17-4 run at the end of the second quarter to get back in the game. That run included three consecutive 3-pointers by Casen Nobbe, who finished with 18 points.

Zach Hudson led Madison Southern with 22 points. Jay Rose and Avery Davidson each added 16. Rose scored five consecutive points to end the third quarter and give Madison Southern a 55-51 lead it never relinquished.

Saxton Howard led four LCA players in double figures with 24 points. Hagan Preston added 16, while Simon King and Kenyatta Hardge each scored 12.

Lexington Catholic 85, Western Hills 26: The No. 2 Knights (31-2) made quick work of the visiting Wolverines (8-25) in a rout that saw LexCath hold Western Hills scoreless in the second quarter.

LexCath led 56-13 at halftime, which allowed the mercy-rule running clock to kick in for the second half.

Twelve Lexington Catholic players scored, led by Tyler Doyle with 14 points and John Reinhart and Rowen Williams each with 10. Javeon Campbell led Western Hills with 12 points.

Boys 11th Region Tournament

(Semifinals and finals at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School)

Saturday

Noon: Frederick Douglass (21-12) vs. Lexington Catholic (31-2)

4 p.m.: Great Crossing (32-1) vs. Madison Southern (23-9)

Tuesday

7 p.m.: Championship game

Tickets: $8 via gofan.com.

Streaming: glicod.com