Keiland Garvey finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals to lead the Tyler Lions to a 67-60 win over Texas High to earn a spot in the playoffs. (Brandon Ogden/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

MARSHALL — At 5-6 in district on Jan. 23, the Tyler Lions’ playoff chances looked bleak.

However, the Lions won four of their next five, including a 59-50 win over Texas High on Feb. 7 and a 52-50 upset victory over Mount Pleasant on a buzzer-beating tip-in by Jasyn Grayson on Tuesday.

Even with those results, Tyler still had to have Texas High lose at Hallsville to keep its playoff hopes alive. Hallsville took a 74-65 win over the Tigers, setting up a play-in game between the Lions and Tigers on Friday night at Marshall High School with the winner advancing to the postseason and the loser having its season come to an end.

The Lions couldn’t have asked for a better start, leading 21-8 after the first quarter and 39-21 at halftime.

The lead was 20, 50-30, late in the third quarter before the Tigers ended the quarter on a 13-0 run to cut the score to 50-43 and made it a 15-0 run overall. The Tigers tailed by four twice in the fourth quarter, as late as with less than a minute remaining, but the Lions were able to pull out a 67-60 win and grab the final playoff spot from District 10-6A.

“Just kudos to our players,” Tyler head boys basketball coach Justin Johnson said. “They come in to work in the mornings, and then after school, they are working. We are a family, and they are bonding right now, and it’s at the right time. It’s playoff time. We’ve been saying it’s playoff time for probably about two weeks. These guys came out and busted their tails. We had some ups, we had some downs, and we came away with the victory.

“That’s what it’s about, just find a way. We found a way, and we’re on to Walnut Grove.”

Tyler (20-12) will face Prosper Walnut Grove (27-9) in the bi-district round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs at 6 p.m. Tuesday at North Forney High School.

“It’s amazing,” Johnson said. “I came in with these guys (the Lions’ eight seniors) their freshman year, so it’s a beautiful thing to see these guys mature and get older and learn the game of basketball with me, and it’s just been amazing coaching these guys for four years. And we want to keep on going. It’s not just Tuesday, we’re trying to keep it rolling as long as we can.”

The Lions came out rolling on Friday, going 8 of 10 from the field in the first quarter, while holding the Tigers to 2 of 7 from the floor in the frame. Tyler was also 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the opening quarter with Jaishua Brown going 3-for-3.

In the second quarter, it was Keiland Garvey who went 3-for-3 from downtown.

Garvey’s most important stretch, however, likely came in the fourth quarter. After the Tigers cut the score to 56-52, a Geordon Mitchell miss bounced out near the elbow, where Garvey hustled to track and down and immediately went downhill, getting to the bucket for the make and the foul. He made the free throw to convert the 3-point play. Garvey then made two free throws to stretch the lead to nine and then Garvey came up with a big block on the other end.

Garvey tacked on four free throws in the final 1:40 to help the Lions hold off the Tigers.

Garvey, who averages 7.6 points per game, finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals.

“I know that I’m a role player, so I try to get my points however I can,” Garvey said. “That’s all I can do. We’re just a family. We’ve got a family bond, and we all want it. We all want to go far. Coach Johnson, he believes in us, so that makes it even better. It means the world (keeping the season alive), because I’ve been with them for my whole high school career.”

“He’s our Swiss knife,” Johnson said. “He does everything from rebound to defense. He had five blocks. Those are all the things that he does. He has the intangibles.

“He says he’s a role player, but he’s more than a role player. We needed his points. If he can have games like that, especially in the playoffs, we will be good to go.”

Brown had 17 points for the Lions.

Other scorers were Mitchell 7; Damien Yarbrough 6; Tayvean McMiller 5; Cameron Singleton 3; and Grayson 2.

For Texas High (15-14), Jimon Haynes had 16 points. Alex Orr had 14 points and eight rebounds. Trevon Ellis finished with 12 points, five assists and six steals.