SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — Forty-one seconds into the second half of Thursday night’s Region 3-A basketball championship game, Grace Academy got the opportunity to practice what the Golden Eagles have been preaching.

Tennessee Temple had just scored two quick baskets to open the third quarter with its biggest lead of the game, leading Grace coach Jon Mattheiss to call time out. After coming out of the huddle, the Golden Eagles held the Crusaders scoreless over the next six minutes while they regained the lead, which Grace held till the end of its 78-71 victory at South Pittsburg High School.

“We were down five when we called that timeout, and that’s when the game seemed to change,” Mattheiss said. “We talked in the huddle about being mentally tough. That’s become our point of emphasis for dealing with tough situations in a game. We’ve had the talent all year; we just needed the mental toughness.”

Grace (25-5) will host Region 4 runner-up Clarkrange in a Class A state sectional Monday at Arts & Sciences, while Tennessee Temple (25-5) must travel to 4-A champion Clay County. The Golden Eagles have two 16-point victories over Clarkrange this season, and Thursday’s win was their 12th in a row since a double-overtime upset by Silverdale Baptist.

That district loss, combined with a 66-51 defeat in their first game against Temple this season, helped the Golden Eagles turn their season around on the way to earning district and region tournament titles.

“It’s just been focus and hard work,” tournament MVP Patrick Shaughnessy said. “The first time we played them, we didn’t come ready to play. Then we just got mad and started working harder, and I think it’s paid off.”

Three first-quarter steals helped the Golden Eagles build an early nine-point lead, but Temple’s Nathan Pendergrass closed out the period with a four-point play to trim the deficit. Eight straight points from Jeremy Sexton, who finished with a game-high 28, helped the Crusaders to the first of four lead changes in the second quarter, which ended with James Kemp making three free throws with no time on the clock to put Temple up 36-35.

Baskets from Sexton and Jarrod Johnson extended the margin to five points in the opening minute of the third quarter before Mattheiss called his team to the bench.

“We came out very strong, and that was huge,” Mattheiss said. “Then we blinked in the second quarter, and they took the lead. It’s a game of runs, and it’s hard to watch it as a coach, but that’s the nature of basketball when two good teams are playing. They’re going to score some points in a row, and you can’t fall apart when it happens.”

Shaughnessy responded with four points for the Golden Eagles, who got back-to-back steals midway through the quarter and converted them into five of Brandon Herman’s 17 points. Temple got within 45-43 on a Ben Montgomery basket with 1:05 left in the third, but Taylor Wilson hit a 3 for Grace with 37.8 seconds on the clock, and freshman Corey Nelson stole the Crusaders’ inbounds pass and put it back to get Grace’s lead to seven.

“They just outplayed us tonight,” Temple coach Caleb Marcum said. “They got the big plays when they needed them, and we made mistakes when we didn’t need them.”

Johnson scored 17 points for the Crusaders, while Shaughnessy and Terrell Church each scored 18 points for Grace, which earned its first region title since 2006.

GRACE ACADEMY 78, TENNESSEE TEMPLE 71

Tenn. Temple 17 19 7 28 — 71

Grace 22 13 15 28 — 78

Tennessee Temple (71) — Petersen, Kemp 8, Pendergrass 8, Jeremy Sexton 28, Jarrod Johnson 17, Armour 2, Andrews 5, Reaves 1, Montgomery 2.

Grace Academy (78) — Harper 8, Terrell Church 18, Wilson 8, Nelson 5, Schley 2, Brandon Herman 17, Patrick Shaughnessy 18, Brown 2.

3-point goals: Temple 6 (Sexton 4, Pendergrass, Andrews); Grace 4 (Herman 2, Church, Wilson). Records: Grace 25-5; Temple 25-5.