The Monroe County boys’ basketball team was able to survive a late push from Glasgow, holding off the Scotties for a 63-61 win in the Region 4 Tournament on Wednesday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Monroe County (18-12) let an eight-point fourth-quarter lead slip away before righting the ship down the stretch to earn the program’s first region tournament win since 2015.

“This is our 40th year at Monroe County High School and this is only the fifth team to ever win a game in the region tournament,” Monroe County coach Ashley Geralds said. “I guess you could say we definitely made a little history tonight.”

The historic win came in another down-to-the-wire fight against Glasgow, which the Falcons beat 46-45 in Tompkinsville on Feb. 10.

Glasgow (18-13) held the early advantage with Landon Minton’s putback making the score 9-5, but Monroe County was able to take control and hold a 14-13 lead after one quarter.

The Falcons stretched the margin to 26-18 after two free throws from Brison Nuckels with 2:16 left in the half, but Glasgow closed with a 12-2 run – with Jerrick Martin’s putback at the horn giving the Scotties a 30-28 halftime lead.

Monroe County regained control in the third quarter with a scorching offensive display. The Falcons were 9-for-10 from the field in the third, a 21-point outburst that allowed Monroe County to build a 49-43 advantage.

The lead grew to 55-47 after a basket from Branson Williams with 4:54 left, but the Scotties had one final push. Glasgow went on a 12-2 run, tying the score 59-all after Martin scored in transition off a turnover with 1:21 remaining.

Reece Bartley’s putback 30 seconds later gave the lead back to Monroe County and Glasgow was unable to answer on the other end. Both teams scored to make it a 63-61 game with 12 seconds remaining. The Falcons turned it over to give Glasgow one final chance, but the Scotties missed a 3-pointer from the left corner as time expired.

“That’s the game of basketball, right?” Glasgow coach Brandon Stockton said. “You win some. You lose some. Some go in and some don’t, but a heck’uva game. The difference in the game tonight I thought was the 50-50 balls. I thought they beat us to the floor, got the loose balls. I thought they kinda beat us to it tonight. I thought it was the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet sometimes that was the difference.”

Nuckols led the Falcons with 21 points, 16 in the second half. Williams added 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Bartley finished with 12 points. The Falcons outrebounded Glasgow 34-19.

“My hats off to these guys,” Geralds said. “They battled and battled and battled. They played through injuries. They were tired. Give Glasgow a lot of credit, they just kept coming at us. It felt like we were kinda pulling away there and they found a way to come back. It was a huge game for us to win and move on.”

Jaylen Bradley led Glasgow with 24 points, while Martin added 16 points.

Monroe County advances to face South Warren at 6 p.m. on Monday at E.A. Diddle Arena. Both teams will be looking for the program’s first trip to the region final. Monday will be a rematch of a game played on Dec. 13 with Monroe County winning 58-53.

“They are a solid team,” Geralds said. “Coach does a really good job over there. It’s a great story. Somebody is going to the region final for the first time in school history. It’s a great spot to be in. These guys I know are going to be excited. Just glad to have a few days to heal up a little bit before that day comes.”

MCHS 14 14 21 14 – 63

GHS 13 17 13 18 – 61

MC – Nuckols 21, Williams 15, Bartley 12, C. Geralds 9, Rich 4, E. Geralds 2.

GHS – Bradley 24, Martin 16, Moore 6, Minton 6, Bartley 4, Norris 3, Hodges 2.