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GREENSBORO — Northwest Guilford cleared one hurdle Thursday for the right to take on another.

The third-seeded and homestanding Vikings, who lost eight of nine regular-season games decided by four or fewer points, held off a challenge from High Point Central for a 59-56 win in the Piedmont Triad 4-A tournament semifinals. That put them in tonight's 8:30 title game at High Point Central against top-seeded Ragsdale, which came back for a 59-55 win over Southwest Guilford. The Vikings, seeking their first championship in any conference since 1998, are 0-3 against the Tigers.

"I don't know that they're different, but I think they are playing better basketball, if that makes any sense," Ragsdale coach Craig Shoemaker said of the Vikings, who play five sophomores at times. "Their confidence is way up."

It was challenged again Thursday when the second-seeded Bison induced seven fourth-quarter turnovers to trim a 12-point deficit to three in the final minute. They had a chance to tie it when Shaquille Bethea stole Adam Coble's pass, and as the clock wound inside 15, Northwest coach Manny Bloom had a plan. The Vikings would permit a mid-range shot, but four of them would zealously defend the 3-point line and Zach Elwood would hang out in the lane to take a charge if necessary.

Central kicked the ball into the corner for Derek Grant, who had a game-high 20 points, but his 3-pointer was off the mark and a subsequent, desperate heave fell short.

The Vikings secured the mild upset because they broke Central's pressure effectively for three quarters. They'll need the same against the Tigers tonight.

"I thought that was great," Bloom said. "We went to the right spaces and made the right decisions."

Ragsdale trailed the Cowboys 49-42 midway through the fourth quarter, but a diligent, trapping defense ultimately exacted a toll and tremendous free-throw shooting brought the Tigers back. Tied at 53 in the final minute, Ragsdale went into a spread offense but was amenable to a good look at any point. The issue became moot when two Cowboys bolted a bit too quickly into a run-and-jump trap and fouled Benaiah Wise near halfcourt with 45.9 seconds to go.

"We weren't necessarily going to take the last shot," Shoemaker said. "Obviously, we didn't have to worry about that."

Wise knocked down the free throws and the Tigers had the lead. They secured the win with a defensive stop and two more freebies, which made them 13-for-14 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.

The title game will be played at High Point Central because Northwest's gym is scheduled to host regional wrestling today.

In addition to ball-handling, a key tonight will be 3-point shooting. Northwest went 6-for-13 from downtown in building the ultimately insurmountable lead over the Bison.

Northwest Guilford 9 21 15 14 — 59
High Point Central 14 12 10 20 — 56

Northwest Guilford — Reed Lucas 14, Kyle Vebber 13, Keaton Haack 10, Kyle Berger 8, Zach Ellwood 7, Adam Coble 5, Matt Pawlowski 2.

High Point Central — Derek Grant 20, Shaquille Bethea 9, Drew Adams 8, Akeem Langham 7, Kendall Stweart 7, Sam Eberhart 5.

Ragsdale 13 9 14 22 — 58
Southwest Guilford 11 19 14 9 — 53

Ragsdale — Devante Fletcher 13, Kalik Parker 13, Benaiah Wise 7, Tyquan Roberts 10, D'onovan Smith 7, J. Randolph 4.

Southwest Guilford — Greg Bridges 20, Terrell Leach 12, Jalen Kitching 7, Deandre Brown 6, Braxton Daye 2, Lateef Degroat 2.