Closing out the regular campaign on a high note, Prairie View carved out a 46-40 victory over Riverdale at Spartan Gym.

“Every time we got a six, seven or eight-point lead, it looked like we started trying very hard to get it down to a one-point game,” Prairie View coach Billy Pee joked. “I was pleased with the win. The kids played hard. They didn’t drop their heads when the made a mistake.”

Prairie View (15-12) will begin postseason play next week in the South State Tournament against the District 5-2A tournament champion. Pairings will be posted Sunday at www.msais.org.

In Thursday’s game, the chances of a Spartans victory appeared bleak in the early going as the Rebels scored the game’s first six points.

Regrouping, the Spartans rattled off seven unanswered points. Robby Jones scored on a putback and Chase Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to give the Spartans their first lead, 7-6.

Riverdale regained the lead briefly, 8-7, but Seth Allen’s three-point play put the Spartans ahead for good.

Connor Smith’s driving layup and 3-pointers by Jones and Anderson on consecutive possessions shoved the Prairie View lead to 18-9.

Jones’ second trey of the of the quarter upped the margin to 21-11 at the end of the first frame.

Both offenses went silent in the second quarter. Riverdale outscored the Spartans 7-3 to cut the deficit to 24-18 at halftime.

Riverdale closed the gap to one, 29-28, in the third quarter on Blake Moseley’s rebound bucket.

Anderson answered with two free throws and a transition layup to push the spread back to five, 33-28, with 1:16 remaining in the period.

Anderson finished with a game-high 22 points on four trifectas and 6-of-6 free throw shooting. The Spartans, who came into the game shooting 49 percent from the line as a team, bagged 12-of-16 (75 percent) charity shots Thursday evening.

“All in all, we played good defense and shot our free throws well,” Pee said. “Where we  didn’t do a very good job was on the boards, especially late in the ballgame. We gave up way too many second shots.”

Moseley’s putback brought the Rebels within 33-30 as the curtain fell on the third quarter.

Dylan Tarver and Alex Shelton traded free throws to open the fourth quarter scoring, bringing the score to 34-31. It was as close as Riverdale would get.

Anderson’s steal set up Allen in transition to start a 6-0 flurry by the Spartans. Two Smith free throws and Anderson’s steal and layup gave the Spartans a comfortable 40-31 lead with 5:47 left to play.

Sinking six straight free throws — four by Shelton — Riverdale closed within 42-36.

Allen’s 17-footer boosted the Spartans’ lead to 44-36 with just over a minute to go.

Continuing to hang around, the Rebels shaved the margin to 44-40 on buckets by Austin McCrory and Shelton, before Allen inserted the dagger by sinking both ends of a two-shot foul with 16 seconds remaining.

Anderson was joined in double figures by Jones with 10. Allen, who scored six timely points in the fourth quarter, finished with nine.

Riverdale (15-11) received 15 points from McCrory and 12 from Shelton.

NOTES: Prairie View’s six seniors — Gabe White, Robby Jones, Connor Smith, Chase Anderson, Dylan Tarver and Seth Allen played in their final home game. Savoring the moment, the entire class lingered at midcourt for several minutes after the game, posing for pictures with parents and fans.