OZARK, Mo. — Fourth-seeded Joplin boys basketball kept its season alive after rallying from behind to beat fifth-seeded Central 90-88 in double overtime in opening-round action of the Class 6 District 5 tournament on Wednesday at Ozark High School.
Joplin (17-9) advances to take on top-seeded Nixa (27-0) at 6 p.m. in the district semifinals on Friday.
The Eagles trailed the Bulldogs (15-10) by six points after the first quarter, seven points at halftime and were behind by seven, 54-47, to start the fourth quarter despite Joplin holding the lead midway through the third period.
Joplin was down five with three minutes left in regulation before closing the game on a 9-4 run, including a pullup 3-pointer from the top of the key in transition by All Wright, who led the Eagles with a game-high 41 points, to tie the game at 67-67 with 20 seconds left to ultimately send the game into overtime.
Joplin got a pair of free throws from Terrance Gibson and Collis Jones before Wright flushed home a dunk in transition to give the Eagles a 73-69 advantage with less than two minutes to play in the extra period.
After Gibson committed his fifth foul with 1:28 left, Central scored four straight to tie the game at 73s before Wright knocked down a mid-range jumper with 48 seconds left to put Joplin back on top.
The Bulldogs took a 76-75 lead when Sterling Vinson converted inside while drawing contact for a three-point play with 27.7 seconds left.
Wright knocked down a pair of free throws with 19 seconds to regain the lead and made both attempts at the stripe with 3.6 seconds left after an empty Central possession to seemingly put the game out of reach with the Eagles on top 79-76.
Central had other plans, as the Bulldogs worked the ball the full length of the court before Jordan Pittman buried a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime tied at 79-79.
The Bulldogs took the early momentum in the second overtime after a driving score from Vinson and a 3-pointer from Antonio Starks-Fewell gave Central an 84-79 lead.
Still down five, Joplin cut the deficit to one, 86-85, after an inside score from Jones and an offensive rebound and putback bucket by Quin Renfro with 1:22 left. After two free throws from Central, Wright drilled a stepback 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 88-all inside the final minute.
After a missed 3-pointer by the Bulldogs, Wright capped his huge performance by drawing contact and knocking down both go-ahead free throws with less than five seconds to play to send the Eagles to the semifinals.
