Tyler’s Keiland Garvey (4) warms up prior to the Lions’ 52-50 win over Mount Pleasant on Tuesday in Tyler. (Phil Hicks/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

In an atmosphere befitting a playoff game, the Tyler Lions stay alive in their bid for the postseason.

Jasyn Grayson’s putback at the buzzer lifted the Lions to a dramatic 52-50 victory over Mount Pleasant on Tuesday in a District 10-5A basketball finale at the Lions Den.

Tyler needed a win, plus a loss by Texas High to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.

After the Lions had a joyous celebration in knocking off the MP Tigers, the squad found out about about 30 minutes later that the Tigers of Texas High fell to Hallsville 74-65 in Hallsville, thus tying THS and THS at 9-7 in district, forcing a tiebreaker for the fourth and final postseason.

The two will face each other in a playoff for a chance to move into the postseason. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Marshall High School.

The teams won on their opponent’s home court — Texas High won 64-55 on Jan. 7 in Tyler and the Lions won 59-50 on Feb. 7 in Texarkana.

The game was intense throughout, especially the final four minutes.

Twice, the Lions hit 3-pointers to knot the game — Cameron Singleton (45-45 at 3:50) and Jaishua Brown (48-48 at 2:03).

Brown then drew a charge with 1:36 on the clock to give the ball to the Lions.

With 1:09 showing, Grayson made two clutch free throws to put the Lions in front 50-48.

Mount Pleasant worked the ball around before A’shad Smith drove the right side of the lane and his soft touch fell through the hoop to tie the game at 50-50 at 44.2 seconds.

Then it was time for the Lions to work the clock. With under 10 seconds showing, Geordon Mitchell drove but the Tigers knocked the ball out of bounds at 3.7 seconds.

Keiland Garvey got the ball into Brown who lifted a shot from the corner that hit the rim. The ball bounded high and Grayson, the Lions’ 6-4 junior leaped high and all in one motion put the ball back up off the backboard. The buzzer sounded as the ball went through the basket for the game-winner.

The Lions mobbed Grayson in celebrating the win.

“We had big shots, big defensive stops,” said Tyler Coach Justin Johnson, who switched defenses throughout to stymie the Tigers. “The kids came out and played hard. We executed everything we talked about at practice. The guys did amazing tonight.”

Brown, who hit 5 of his first 6 shots, led the Lions with 21 points, including five 3-pointers. The senior had 14 rebounds and two blocks.

Others scoring for Tyler were Mitchell (11), Garvey (9), Grayson (6), Singleton (3) and LaTavion Golden (2).

Joining Brown in hitting 3-pointers were Mitchell (3), Garvey (2) and Singleton (1).

Garvey had seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Grayson added five boards with Singleton and Golden grabbing four apiece.

Carter Chism, MP’s standout junior guard, led the Tigers with 16 points, followed by Zeke Hill (13), Smith (9), Reggie Webster (8) and Lincoln Dyke (4).

Webster had 11 rebounds and Chism had four steals.

Connecting on 3-pointers for the Tigers were Hill (3), Chism (2) and Smith (1).

The Lions were 3 of 6 at the free throw line and Mount Pleasant was 12 of 15.

In other league results on Tuesday, Jacksonville beat Whitehouse 45-29; and Nacogdoches defeated Marshall 64-59. Lufkin had a bye.

The final district standings include: 1, Lufkin, 16-0; 2, Mount Pleasant, 13-3; 3, Hallsville, 11-5; 4, (tie) Tyler, 9-7; Texas, 9-7; 6, Jacksonville, 7-9; 7, Nacogdoches, 4-12; 8, Marshall, 2-14; 9, Whitehouse, 1-15.

In the playoffs, Lufkin and either Tyler or Texas High will be in Class 5A Division I, while Hallsville and Mount Pleasant will be in 5A Division II.

Bi-district will be played either Monday or Tuesday.

LIONS TALES: The Tyler Lady Lions (31-5) area playoff game is scheduled for Thursday against Highland Park (23-12). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Kaufman. The Lady Lions defeated Prosper Walnut Grove 47-41 on Monday in Forney, while the Lady Scots won over Frisco Emerson 42-37 on Monday in Allen. … The winner of the area contest advances to regional semifinals next week.