A tip-in from Kaderius Lacey with four seconds to play, proved to be the deciding basket in the Class 3A, Area 7 championship Monday, as Calera (21-7) edged Altamont, 64-63.

The title is the Eagles&8217; 10th in 12 seasons, but was not easy to come by.

Trailing by five, 58-53, with four minutes to play, Demarcus Dowdell buried a 3-point basket to cut the lead to two points. Following an Altamont free throw, Dowdell canned another 3-pointer to tie the game at 59-59.

After trading baskets over the next couple of minutes, Lacey hit a pair of free throws to give Calera a 62-60 lead with 34 seconds left. He later tipped in a missed free throw attempt to stretch the lead to four points. A 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Knights cut the final margin to a point.

&8220;One of the things that I have to give our guys credit for is when down five, they didn&8217;t panic and moved the basketball well,&8221; Coach Robert Burdette said.

Dowdell led the way with 21 points for Calera, while Lacey followed with 19 points.