Coming out of Friday’s sub-region win at home over Ranburne, 66-57, Vincent head coach Stacy McGehee said his number one concern was learning to play with the lead.

“We’ve got to be a little bit smarter and have longer possessions than what we’re having,” McGehee said Friday.

That concern was evident Monday night in the first round of the Class 2A Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State University, as Vincent saw a once 17-point lead fade, losing to Fyffe, 61-54.

“We just have had a hard time maintaining that intensity,” McGehee said Monday. “We’ve shot ourselves back into games, and we’ve shot ourselves out of games this year, and tonight was one of those cases.”

The Yellow Jackets led 36-22 at halftime, but were outscored 17-9 and 22-9 in the next two quarters.

As Fyffe closed in, the Jackets (17-10) couldn’t hit a shot, as they were 0-of-6 in the final four minutes.

Michael Trammel hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds to play to put Fyffe on top, 56-54. After a missed jumper by Devanta Williams, the Jackets were forced to foul. The Red Devils were 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 22 seconds to secure the win, as Jesse Townsel hit a pair of free throws and Jon-Marcus Freeman had four.

Freeman led Fyffe with 14 points, while Jesse Martin had 13.

B.J. Hamilton led Vincent with 19, scoring 12 in the first half.

Vincent finishes its season at 17-10 after returning just one starter, Eric Arrowood, to this year’s team.

“They came together as a team and won area, which was one of our goals, and made it to the region. We’re hoping to make it where it’s expected (to be here) and they’re starting to do that,” McGehee said.

Fyffe (23-6) plays Sand Rock in the region final Friday at 5:45 p.m.