SANFORD — As Apex guard Kim Durham raced down the floor and toward the hoop in the game’s closing seconds Friday, Apex coach Scott Campbell and Athens Drive coach Chris Danehower both expected the Tri-Eight tournament title game was about to go to overtime.

“I really thought they were going to tie it up,” Danehower said.

Durham knifed into the lane and flung the ball toward the basket. The shot missed and a mad scramble ensued in the paint. Apex’s Charli Leto got a handle on the ball but wasn’t able to emerge from the scrum until the buzzer sounded, allowing the Jaguars to hang on for a 59-57 win.

“When Kim got the ball in the open floor and took it into the lane, I thought the worst case is she’s going to the line for two. The best case is she scores and she’s fouled,” Campbell said. “And we come out with nothing.”

That play was the about the only thing that separated the two teams that finished first and second in the Tri-Eight standings.

The game was close throughout.

Athens’ biggest lead was eight points, and Apex’s was four.

Athens shot 48 percent from the field and 60 percent at the foul line. Apex was 44 percent from the floor and 65 percent at the line.

Both teams had three players score in double figures — Chareya Smith (17), Tyonna Willingham (17) and Markeisha Gatling (10) for Athens; Durham (16), Leto (14) and Cassandra Mitchell (10) for Apex.

“The difference in the game, I thought, was we were able to execute in the very end,” Danehower said.

Apex closed the first half on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 27-27. The run came on the heels of Campell’s techincal foul, one he was charged with after he stomped on the floor and congratulated one of his players for their hard play. But the gesture was construed by one official as critical of the call, which confused Campbell since he was applauding one of his players.

“They overcame my stupidity,” Campbell said of his team’s half-closing run.

As the teams headed to the locker room, Apex had an extra kick in its step and looked ready to play, while Athens’ players trudged to their locker room looking as if they’d already lost.

“We hadn’t been pushed. We’ve not been challenged,” said Danehower, who’s team had won the previous 16 games by double figures. “We talked about before the game how this was going to be a close game, and hard fought.”

The teams emerged from intermission, and Athens opened up a 40-35 lead after Alyx Ingram’s putback with 2:07 on the clock.

Apex countered with an 8-2 run to close the quarter, giving the Cougars a 43-42 lead — theirits first since it was 9-8 in the first quarter.

That lead swelled to 46-42 early in the fourth, Athens’ largest deficit of the night.

But the Jaguars came back with a 14-4 run to take a 56-48 lead with 1:26 to play.

“I just think we made some plays,” Danehower said. “We got some tips and some steals and a couple of easy baskets.”

But the Cougars had one last run in them.

Bethany Collins knocked down a 3-pointer and Mitchell’s steal and layup slashed the Athens advantage to 56-53. Durham’s two free throws with 15 seconds left cut it to 59-57.

Apex got the ball back with 10 seconds left when Durham snatched the rebound of an ill-advised Athens shot. Though the feeling on both sidelines was the game was about to go to overtime, it wasn’t meant to be. Apex trudged off the court having come up one possession short, while the Jaguars celebrated winning the conference tournament for the second year in a row.

“I told them I don’t have any consoling words because what do you say?” Campbell said. “Play a little harder? I don’t know that we could.”