BIRMINGHAM — American Christian Academy boys basketball has punched its ticket to the Class 4A state championship game for the first time in school history.

The Patriots defeated Deshler by a score of 58-54 on Tuesday afternoon in the boys Class 4A AHSAA semifinals. Now, ACA advances to play the winner between DAR vs. Jackson in the state championship game on Friday at 5:45 p.m.

ACA head coach Blake Thrasher, who was diagnosed with leukemia in November, was in attendance to watch his team in Tuesday's contest. Interim head coach Austin Grammer took over coaching duties for Thrasher following his diagnosis.

ACA's Eric Hines finished the game with 17 points for the Patriots to go with 19 rebounds. Davis Dare and Hunter Bates each finished with 12 points, while Samuel Holt finished with 10.

Besides the first two-and-a-half minutes of play, American Christian never trailed in the first half. The Patriots held a 30-25 lead going into halftime, led largely by Hines, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half.

The teams continued to exchange the lead late down the stretch. Deshler regained the lead for the first time since the first quarter at the 5:16 mark of the fourth period off of a 3-pointer by Garrett Reid. ACA, though, quickly responded with a Justin Michael Allen 3-pointer as the teams went back and forth with the lead.

A Hunter Bates steal and ensuing layup with 1:45 remaining in regulation once again gave the Patriots the lead at 55-53, a lead which they did not give up for the rest of the game as they held onto win it.

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Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: AHSAA Final Four: ACA defeats Deshler, advances to state championship