CLINTON — It came down to the end.

Behind the play of Kaeden Laws and Zandon Haralson, Center Hill was able to hold off a late Meridian High School rally 63-61 in the Rumble In The South at Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum Monday afternoon.

“I thought we played extremely well in the beginning, but in the end I think our legs got tired,” Center Hill coach Newton Mealer said. “Key players down the stretch kept making plays and refused to lose.”

The Mustangs (14-8) never trailed the entire game.

Center Hill jumped out to a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Mustangs extended their lead to as much as 15 points at 32-17 midway through and had a 36-22 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, everytime MHS would cut the Center Hill advantage to less than 10, the Mustangs had an answer. Center Hill held a 53-43 lead at the end of the third.

To begin the fourth quarter, MHS went on a 9-2 run to cut the Mustang lead down to 55-52.

The Wildcats twice cut the lead down two in the fourth quarter, but Center Hill went on a quick 5-0 run to go up 63-58 with just less than a minute to go in the game.

Meridian’s JonQuavious Richey hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead down to 63-61 with 44 seconds left, but the potential game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.

Laws had 17 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals to lead Center Hill and was named the games Most Valuable Player.

“We had a good game plan and just had to come out and execute,” Laws said. “Coach said before the game to make sure we take good shots and defend well. We knew they were going to make shots, we just had to make shots and get stops at the right time.”

Zandon Haralson had a game-high 18 points for Center Hill, while Elijah Marcisz added 13 points for the Mustangs.

Quan Moffite had 13 points to lead Meridian, while Demarcus Powe added 12 points for the Wildcats (9-5).

“At the beginning we played scared, and then late we finally got some stops and made shots,” Meridian coach Ron Norman said. “I’m proud of the guys for playing with a lot of effort, and we’re a work in progress, and we will get better.”