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The Franklin County Rebels beat the Bradley Central Bears 59-51 at home Saturday in a quarterfinal game for the Region 3-4A tournament.

The Rebels rallied from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter to take the lead midway through the fourth as they pulled away from there to advance to the next round of the bracket.

The Bears jumped out to an early lead in the contest with the Rebels lurking a few possessions behind in the opening period.

Franklin County trailed 16-10 after one quarter.

The deficit remained steady throughout the second quarter as the Rebels trailed by a score of 25-19 going into the halftime break. Kaleb Rigsby scored five of Franklin County’s nine points in the second quarter.

The Bears scored the first five points of the third quarter to briefly bring their lead up to double digits before the Rebels scored 10 straight to pull within a point of the lead.

However, the Rebels still weren’t able to find a tying or go-ahead score in the period as they trailed 37-34 going into the fourth quarter.

The Rebels made it a one-point game three more times in the fourth quarter and finally tied the score at 43-43 on a pair of free throws from Kenyon Fuqua with 4:06 remaining in the contest.

A free throw from Sam Vincent gave the Rebels their first lead of the contest on their next possession, and they proceeded to score eight more unanswered points to pull away late in the contest.

The Bears wouldn’t be able to threaten the lead for the rest of the day as the Rebels won by eight.

Rigsby led the Rebels with 17 points for the game, followed by Vincent with 13 points and Ke’Andre Johnson with 12.

Kai Baker scored 10 points and Fuqua scored seven.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 14-15 on the season.

They will next play Tuesday at McMinn County High School in a semifinal game for the Region 3-4A tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.