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The Franklin County Rebels lost to the McMinn County Cherokees 72-61 on the road Tuesday in a semifinal game for the Region 3-4A tournament.

The score was kept close for most of the night, and the Rebels trailed by just one possession late in the fourth quarter, but the Cherokees pulled away in the final minute to eliminate Franklin County from the bracket.

The Cherokees took an 11-4 lead to start the game, but the Rebels responded with a 16-2 run to flip the scoreboard in their favor.

McMinn County then scored the last five points of the opening period with the Rebels holding a slight 20-18 lead after one quarter.

The Cherokees maintained their momentum in the second quarter with a 17-4 run to start the period flipping the scoreboard again and bringing the deficit up to 11 points before the Rebels scored the last six points of the half to tighten the score.

Franklin County trailed 35-30 at halftime.

There were nine lead changes in the third quarter with the Cherokees ultimately ending the period in front after a shooting foul on a 3-pointer at the buzzer led to two successful free throws to break a 49-49 tie. Kai Baker scored 10 of Franklin County’s 19 points in the third quarter.

The Rebels trailed 51-49 going into the final period.

The Rebels remained a step behind the Cherokees throughout the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Sam Vincent cutting the deficit down to three points at 62-59 with about 1:25 remaining.

However, the Cherokees then scored 10 consecutive points from the free-throw line to put the game out of reach as the Rebels lost by 11.

Baker led the Rebels with 22 points for the game, followed by Vincent with 16 points and Ke’Andre Johnson with nine.

Kaleb Rigsby scored eight points and Kenyon Fuqua scored six.

With the loss, the Rebels finished their season with a record of 14-16.