That set up Monday's championship game, a rematch of the 2002 finals. This is the third straight trip to the finals for Auburn, the defending champion.
These are the first three games played in the boys division:
Olmstead 47
Chandlers 46
Olmstead trailed Chandlers the entire game until the final three minutes, and it was tantalizingly close after that.
The Bears led as late as 29, seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by center Will Gregory.
But Olmstead's Adrian Ferguson scored two quick buckets. The first was on a two-on-one fast break with Daniel Shoemake getting the assist. Five seconds later, Ferguson made a steal and scored. With 16 seconds remaining, the Rams had their biggest lead of the game at three.
The Bears' Nathan Powell hit a layup with 9.5 seconds to cut the margin to one. After a timeout, the Bears tried to foul, but Shoemake was called for walking before he could be fouled.
Chandlers got the ball on its own end of the floor and got off three good shots in that final 4.5 seconds, but none would fall and the Rams escaped with the win.
Olmstead had last led at 10-9 when Shoemake hit two straight running hooks, the second after Ferguson blocked a shot.
But the Bears' Nathan Powell hit a pair of free throws and then sank a 3-pointer to put the Rams up 14-10 at the first stop. The CMS lead reached 7 three times in the second quarter, but Olmstead pulled to within 24-21 on two straight goals by Chris Dixon.
Gregory posted up to hit a shot and then get fouled twice in the last minute of the half. He made the lead 29-21 at the half.
The Bears' bulge reached 10 points with 1:08 left in the third when Josh Stuart hit a 3-pointer, Gregory scored on an assist from Adam McPhaill, and Powell hit a shot.
Dixon scored five points in 12 seconds late in the quarter to start the Rams' comeback. Shoemake and Ferguson completed the rally with each scoring 8 points in the fourth quarter.
Gregory almost single-handedly fouled out the Olmstead front line. Two of the Rams' big men, Dixon and Tray Allen, fouled out, and a third, Cody Martin, had four. The Bears shot 38 free throws, hitting 15. Powell and Gregory were a combined 10 of 18 at the line. The rest of the Bears went 5 of 20.
Olmstead was 5 of 14 at the line as a team.
Ferguson and Dixon each had 17 points and Shoemake 13 for all of Olmstead's scoring
Powell had 19 and Gregory 15 in their final game for Chandlers.
Score by quarters: 1) CMS 14-10, 2) 29-21, 3) 36-31, Final) Olmstead 47, Chandlers 46
OMS (47) Adrian Ferguson 17, Chris Dixon 17, Daniel Shoemake 13, Sells, Vick, Allen, Martin
CMS (46) Nathan Powell 19, Will Gregory 15, Adam McPhaill 4, Michael Sweetsir 4, Josh Stuart 4, Meacham, Thompson
Lewisburg 33
Olmstead 30
A dominating early performance turned into a narrow escape for the heavily favored Rangers in the first semifinals.
Cody Lee scored 10 of his game-high 16 points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Douglas Harris hit two shots, including a trey, as the Rangers built a 19-0 lead before Ferguson hit a shot for Olmstead with 23 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Olmstead coach Brad Daugherty stayed calm throughout, however, and his team reflected that by patiently and methodically climbing back into the game.
Ferguson scored 7 points and Shoemake 4 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 26-21. Dixon put a rebound in and then scored on a Ferguson steal. Allen's free throw after he made a steal tied the game at 26-26.
Lee Michael Gorrell hit a free throw for Lewisburg, but Ferguson gave the Rams their only lead of the game at 28-27 with 2:04 left. Olmstead had outscored the Rangers 28-8 to reach that milestone.
Harris was fouled but missed the free throw, and Lee stuffed the rebound back in to put the Rangers ahead to stay.
Late in the game, Lewisburg's Lucas Gilliam picked off an inbounds pass. Cobey Adler misfired on a long shot, and Sammy Sells rebounded for Olmstead. He was trapped just past midcourt. He threw the ball to Shoemake, who was airborne. Shoemake caught the ball before he landed on the Olmstead side of midcourt. Since he hadn't established position, it resulted in an over-and-back call and gave the ball back to Lewisburg.
Lee hit two free throws for what proved to be the winning point. That came with 26.7 seconds, but Lewisburg put the Rams back in contention by fouling a second later. The dependable Shoemake sank both foul shots to make it 31-30 Lewisburg.
Gilliam calmly sank both of his free throws with 21.3 seconds to seal the victory.
Ferguson led the Rams in scoring with 13 points. He and Lee were the only double-figure scorers in the game.
Score by quarters: 1) LMS 19-2, 2) 24-10, 3) 26-21, Final) Lewisburg 33, Olmstead 30
LMS (33) Cody Lee 16, Douglas Harris 7, Lee Gorrell 6, Luke Gilliam 2, Cobey Adler 2, Clark, Coleman, Anderson, Mullins
OMS (30) Ferguson 13, Dixon 8, Shoemake 6, Tray Allen 3, Sells, Vick, Martin
Auburn 38
Adairville 26
When Auburn's Nick Whittington scored on the opening tip and Mitchell Moore stole the ball on Adairville's first possession, the theme was set for the evening.
Whittington and Moore were big contributors to Auburn's win. The team was efficient on offense and tenacious on defense, as the Tigers pulled an upset in beating the Cardinals 38-26 in the semifinals.
It was the fourth and final game of the day in the tournament at Logan County High School.
Using the strength and aggressive play of big men Drew Neel and Seth Whittaker, the Cardinals had beaten the Tigers in regular season play all three times.
But Whittington and Ryan Meguiar shut Whittaker down and severely limited the effectiveness of Neel.
Moore ran the offense throughout the game, had some big assists, and was especially adept at killing time after the Tigers got the lead.
Adding a punctuation point was the shooting of seventh grader Daniel Pardue, who hit three 3-pointers in less than two minutes in the third quarter, making the Tiger lead 28-17.
The lead would have been greater had Cardinal guard Cody Holley not gotten assists in to Neel on two straight possessions.
Adairville's Tyler Johnson hit a shot, and then Whittington scored to make Auburn's lead 30-19 with 41 seconds remaining in the third. That proved to be the last points the Tigers would score for four minutes as the Cardinals made a game of it.
The momentum began to shift when Bret Parks came off the bench and tipped in a shot for Adairville at the buzzer. Johnson stole an inbounds pass early in the fourth quarter and scored to cut the margin to 30-23.
It stayed that way through a series of mishaps for both teams until Whittington drove the baseline and hit a beautiful reverse layup with 2:40 remaining.
What could have been a disaster for the Tigers came when Whittington drew his fourth and fifth fouls within 10 seconds of each other. Inbounding the ball from his baseline, Meguiar threw it to halfcourt toward Whittington. It was long, Whittington snagged it and then ran into Neel. He was called for the charge.
On the ensuing possession, Whittington fouled Whittaker, eliminating the Auburn post player with 2:06 remaining in the game. He is Auburn's only inside presence on offense and a key to the defense.
The guards kept that from being a problem. Moore spent much of the last two minutes controlling the ball. He hit four free throws and Pardue two in the final 1:24. Josh Slaton, who had come in for Whittington, pulled down an important rebound.
Zach Smith, a sparkplug for the Tigers, was injured while hitting a driving layup with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter. He only played about 10 seconds the rest of the game. His replacement, Adam Haley, didn't score, but he helped by playing a steady floor game.
Pardue scored 13 points in the win and Whittington 12. Neel led the Cardinals with 10.
Score by quarters: 1) AuMS 8-7, 2) 17-11, 3) 30-21, Final) Auburn 38, Adairville 26
AuMS (38) Daniel Pardue 13, Nick Whittington 12, Mitchell Moore 7, Ryan Meguiar 4, Zach Smith 2, Haley, Slaton, Denney, Belcher, Covington, Blanton
AdMS (26) Drew Neel 10, Tyler Johnson 7, Seth Whittaker 3, Cody Holley 2, Brett Parks 2, Edwards, Angel, McDonald, Grant, Armistead, Knox
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