BIRMINGHAM — The Sumter Central boys basketball team was less than a minute away from advancing to the AHSAA Class 3A state championship game on Friday, before falling 64-61 to Midfield on Tuesday morning at Legacy Arena.

The Jaguars held the lead for 22:15 of the game compared to that of the Patriots, who held the advantage for just 6:06. Those six minutes, though, were all the Patriots needed as they went onto claim victory and find themselves in the state championship game.

Sumter Central entered the halftime with a lead of 31-26, but it was outscored 38-30 by Midfield across the final two quarters of play. It was the second-straight season the Jaguars saw their season come to an end in the Final Four.

"I want to give the honor to (Midfield) coach (Courtney) Jones, he had the guys prepared," Sumter Central coach Jazmin Mitchell said. "That's probably one of the best games I have seen up and down the floor with two opponents with fast speed. I mean, it was basket for basket. It came down to the end of who made the right adjustments at the end and who made the right stops."

Sumter County did not trail in the fourth quarter until the 1:55 mark, where a layup by Midfield's Jaden Sellers gave the Patriots the 59-58 edge. From there, the teams continued to trade the lead. Sellers once again gave the Patriots the edge, this time off a 3-point jump shot with 0:31 left in regulation, and the Patriots held onto the lead for the rest of the game.

Down 63-61 with 0:17 seconds left, Sumter Central had possession of the ball and had a timeout remaining with the ball in the hands of Emmanuel Clarton. On the possession, though, Clarton was called for a travel and possession was given back to Midfield with 0.7 seconds remaining.

"We had been going on fast pace, and I saw that one of my best ball handlers (Clarton) had the ball in his hands, so I was going to keep that timeout in my pocket," Mitchell said. "I knew he was going to score so I had that type of confidence in Emmanuel. When he had that ball in his hands, he had that guy one-on-one, so why would I call a timeout when I have one of the best players on my team with the ball in his hands? He just made a mistake, he made a spin move and they called a traveled."

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Armonie Franklin was fouled on the ensuing Midfield inbound and sent to the free-throw line, where he made his first free throw but missed his second. Clarton came down with the rebound for the Jaguars as they quickly called a timeout. Another Jaguar turnover, though, this time by Brandon Robinson, and an ensuing foul on Jonathan Fitch sent Franklin back to the line with 0.1 seconds remaining. Franklin did not convert on either of his two free throw attempts, and Sumter Central's Keyuntez Giles came down with the rebound, but time expired as Giles launched the ball up-court in a last-ditch effort.

Despite the loss, Mitchell expressed how proud he was of his team, which finished the season 28-4 and was both the 3A-Area 7 regular season and tournament champions.

"I'm proud of these guys," Mitchell said. "We come from a place with one of the lowest poverty places in the state in Sumter County. These kids played hard; they gave me all they had all year. We ended up winning 28 games and only losing four. They gave me all they had all year, I am just proud of them. People think it's real easy to get to the Final Four, it's not. It's a journey, and it's a hard journey, but these kids gave me everything they got and I am proud of them."

The Jaguars had a close-knit group this season, with Mitchell saying he had coached his team since they were around five or six years old and that they have been playing together since kindergarten. His players shared the same sentiment.

"(These guys) are really special to me because we all grew up together and grew up playing each other in the backyard, knowing when we get to high school, we were going to be the team that we wanted to see," Clarton said. "Making it this far, coming from where we come from, that's the biggest compliment."

Sumter Central will lose six seniors to graduation, but it will return a large portion of its 2023-24 team, including Clarton, who led the team averaging 25.6 points, 7.6 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game.

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 basketball: Sumter Central's Jazmin Mitchell following Final Four loss