JACKSONVILLE — The Ragland Lady Purple Devils built a huge lead, watched it disappear, and finished the game on a 13-5 run to beat Collinsville 59-51 on Tuesday in the first round of the Northeast Regional Tournament.

Ragland will face Spring Garden for the region title Friday with tip-off scheduled for 12:30 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the AHSAA Final Four in Birmingham.

Leading 26-19 at intermission, the Ragland girls increased their lead to 35-20 halfway through the third quarter.

But Collinsville went on a 12-0 run to close the gap to 35-32 and suddenly, it was a game again.

With 3:15 left in the game, Collinsville tied the game at 46-46.

The Ragland girls did not panic and calmly went on an 8-0 run over the next two and a half minutes and that won the game for them 59-51.

Four Ragland players scored in double figures with Kailey Echols and Emily Church scoring 14 points each. JJ Looney recorded a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

Paige Gann netted 12 points. Madison Oliver netted 6 points and led the team in steals with 5.

Ragland coach Rush Rutledge said he was just glad to get a win.

“The second half was not like I expected it,” Rutledge said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we pulled it out.”

Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.