ROCKDALE -- Practice makes perfect.

Even without it, Tre Flowers was pretty good.

Flowers, who missed the last two days with strep throat, scored at key points of the fourth quarter to back an outstanding defensive effort in A&M Consolidated's 59-56 boys basketball victory over Georgetown on Friday in the Class 5A area playoffs.

"He's been out two days sick, so we just got him caught up tonight," Consol coach Thirman Dimery said.

Flowers wouldn't let Georgetown catch up. Left open for a pull-up 3-pointer with 5:09 left in the fourth quarter, Flowers knocked it down to give the Tigers a 48-38 lead.

"It's my favorite situation," the Tigers' 6-foot-1 senior guard said. "I was coming down the court, and I saw they were sagging off and they gave me the space to shoot it. My coach always told me, 'If you're open, shoot it.' Given the freedom and I was open, I just shot it."

Flowers finished with just 11 points, but all 11 were timely. His two free throws with 13.4 seconds left built Consol's lead to 58-50.

Georgetown hit two 3-pointers after that to make the final score closer, but it was the first time the Eagles hit a shot from outside the arc since Chandler Herman's 3 to tie the score at 5 in the first quarter.

The Eagles had connected on six 3-pointers in their 58-36 bi-district win over Magnolia, but Consol's aggressive man-to-man defense effectively removed the long-range shot from Georgetown's arsenal.

"That's probably the best defense we've played as a team the whole entire game," Dimery said. "We made some mistakes, but when we play like that, it kind of wore them down in the fourth quarter when they needed to make some jump shots. Out kids just played hard."

Consol (21-12) will face District 18-5A rival Rudder in the regional quarterfinals at a time and site to be determined. Rudder advanced with a 73-71 double-overtime win over Brenham on Friday.

Consol and Rudder split their two district meetings this season. Rudder won the first 52-51 with Consol taking the second 55-52.

Georgetown, the 19-5A champion, ended its season at 25-8.

The Eagles and Tigers met earlier this season on Dec. 2, 2016, with Georgetown winning 57-35 at the Jack Frost Tournament.

"Our goal was to keep them from shooting 3s," Dimery said. "They hit 10 on us in the tournament game where we played them."

Consol charged to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter when freshman guard Nate Floyd hit a 3 and Layton Dimery connected on an impressive stop-and-go drive that finished with a bank shot. Layton Dimery led Consol with 14 points.

Consol never fell behind but spent much of the rest of the game trying to hold back Georgetown.

Beau Corrales had consecutive three-point plays, drawing fouls on his inside buckets, and pulled the Eagles to within 19-18. Corrales led Georgetown with 14 points.

Kaden Herbert's basket at 1:50 of the second quarter tied the score at 26, but Jordan Gray and Flowers hit 3s as Consol closed the half with an 8-2 run for a 34-28 halftime lead.

After a blur-speed first half, both teams started slowly in the second half.

Georgetown closed Consol's lead to 43-38 when Matt Taparauskas scored from the corner of the lane with 6:51 left in the fourth quarter. The Tigers followed quickly with a put-back bucket from Layton Dimery before Flowers hit his pivotal 3.

Seven fourth-quarter Consol turnovers kept Georgetown in contention late.

But as a team, Consol also connected on seven 3-pointers.

"Actually, we do that a lot," Flowers said. "Coach said when we drive, kick out to the shooters. If your feet are under you and you've got good spacing, just let it fly."

A&M Consolidated 59, Georgetown 56

A&M CONSOLIDATED (21-12) -- Jordan Gray 3 0-0 2 8; Nate Floyd 4 4-4 4 14; Makel Williams 1 0-0 0 3; Layton Dimery 4 6-9 4 14; Bryce Smith 1 1-2 1 4; Naaman Outing 1 1-2 0 3; Tre Flowers 3 3-4 2 11; Abel Daily 1 0-1 2 2. TOTALS: 18 15-22 15 59.

GEORGETOWN (25-8) -- Adam Bizzell 2 0-0 0 2; Kaden Herbert 6 1-1 2 13; Matt Taparauskas 4 2-3 4 10; Trent Miller 0 0-0 1 0; Ethen Campbell 0 0-0 1 0; Beau Corrales 4 6-8 2 14; Chandler Herman 1 0-0 5 3; Will Dietlein 1 0-0 0 3; Willie Rhines 2 0-2 3 4; Cooper Bell 1 0-0 1 3; Zak Kepner 0 0-0 3 0. TOTALS: 21 9-14 14 56.

A&M Consolidated 17 17 9 16 -- 59

Georgetown 9 19 8 20 -- 56

3-pointers: CONSOL -- Gray 2, Floyd 2, Flowers 2, Williams; GEORGETOWN -- Herman, Dietlein, Bell