FAYETTE &8212; When the place went nuts following Jefferson County&8217;s 79-65 playoff win at home over Prentiss, everyone stormed the court to celebrate the win and mark the end of the program&8217;s hard times.

Yet with this group of Tigers, it may just be the beginning.

The team took plenty of lumps to get to this point &8212; finishing the regular season on a winning streak, landing in the finals of the region tournament and hosting a playoff game after winning just a handful of games last year and losing in the first round of the tournament.

It took defense, shooting and smooth guard play. But most of all, it may have taken maturity.

When Prentiss canned a 3-pointer at the buzzer from the other end to end the half, head coach Marcus Walton could see the difference.

&8220;Percy Turner, Kadon Day and Joseph Kemp made the comment about how every possession counts,&8221; Walton said. &8220;Every possession &8212; even in the first quarter &8212; can come back to haunt you. We tried to make them realize every possession is important.

&8220;What we&8217;re trying to do is teach them the right way to win right now and make sure you do everything the right way. The biggest thing is staying disciplined. It&8217;s hard for young kids to stay focused.&8221;On Tuesday night against Prentiss, it took took maturity and defense in the face of 12 3-pointers from the Bulldogs. They couldn&8217;t miss &8212; even on the full-court shot from Jordan Watts &8212; before finally coming up cold in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers didn&8217;t get rattled. They stretched their 1-3-1 zone defense out to pick up the shooters from the side and slowed Prentiss down.

&8220;We didn&8217;t know they could shoot that well,&8221; said Turner, who led the Tigers in scoring with 23 points. &8220;We spread out that 1-3-1 and matched up. Coach knew they were going to do it. We were ready for it, but we didn&8217;t know they were going to shoot it that well.&8221;

No one could have forseen Prentiss shooting as well as they did from behind the arc, although the scouting reports indicated they had a tendency to go off from out there. The triples kept them in the game &8212; seven in the second quarter, two in the third and three in ther fourth &8212; while trimming the deficit to 62-60 on a Keith Hicks triple with 5:03 left in the game.

That was the last shot from long range, although Hicks put in a layup off a steal at the 3:49 mark that kept the deficit at two at 65-63. But shots from there either didn&8217;t fall or didn&8217;t get off.

&8220;The last three minutes of the ball game we were able to do it,&8221; Walton said. &8220;The scouting report on them said they would shoot the 3, but I don&8217;t care what kind of scouting report you get &8212; we were lucky to get out of here tonight with the way they shot the basketball. We just stretched (our zone) out and made them put it on the floor. If we could make them put it on the floor, we could make them break out of their rhythm.&8221;

It worked, and the Tigers were able to get back to playing an inside game and put the game away after leading from start to finish. They hit eight of 12 free throws to close it out, and Day ended the game with a hard dunk that sparked everyone in the gym.

Day finished with 14 points, while Lowe had 20.

&8220;We can make a whole lot of excuses, but they just beat us,&8221; Prentiss head coach Lonnie McLemore said. &8220;They have a good inside game, and I&8217;m a little light inside. They out-weighed us by 40 pounds.&8221;

Jefferson County got a bucket from Kemp early to start the fourth quarter and put the lead at 58-49 before Prentiss got a 3-pointer that would have been good in the NBA from Boris McGee and another triple from Hicks to trim the deficit to 58-55.

Kenneth Lowe later came with a bucket for a 62-57 lead, but Hicks hit another 3-pointer. But the Tigers got a three-point play from Kenneth Lowe when he was fouled on a putback for a 65-60 lead.

&8220;I got nervous,&8221; Kemp said of the 3-point barrage. &8220;But we played as a team. We got on their shooters. We got put out in the first round last year. We wanted this game right here.&8221;