Mustangs snatch regional title from Lions in overtime
OLA — Jessieville’s senior boys battled through highs and lows against Perryville Saturday night, but the Lions ran out of gas down the stretch in their second overtime game in as many days.
Leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Lions (24-6) found themselves knotted at 45-45 at the end of regulation after Perryville’s Garrison Branscum found an opening and delivered a basket with 40 seconds remaining.
A 3-pointer by Tyler Holloway gave Jessieville a 51-49 lead with 1:08 to play in the overtime period, but Perryville (26-4) answered with a layup from Drake Henderson 20 seconds later.
With the game on the line, the Mustangs turned to their senior leader to make something happen. Branscum delivered the go-ahead basket with less than three seconds remaining to give Perryville a 53-51 win in the 3A-1 regional championship at Two Rivers High School.
“We wanted this, there is no doubt about it,” Jessieville coach Jared White said. “So, it is going to sting, but this does not define us. This is a learning experience. We can correct some of the mistakes we made down the stretch, and we can be better for it next week (in the Class 3A state tournament at Drew Central).
“Credit to them, they made some plays down the stretch. Every time we
pushed it back out, they made a play.”
Trading baskets with Perryville for much of the opening quarter, the Lions took a 10-8 lead into the second period behind four points from Alex Burleson and a 3-pointer from Dalton McClard.
After allowing four different Mustangs to score two points in the first quarter, Jessieville tightened its defense in the second frame to build some early momentum. Burleson led the way with seven points as the Lions knocked down three shots from behind the arc, and rode a 10-0 run to a 27-14 lead at the half.
“We hit shots and we took care of the ball,” said White. “I think we may have had three turnovers in the first half. We attacked when we needed to attack, and we got stops.”
A 61-54 winner over Jessieville in the 3A-4 district tournament championship on Feb. 16, Perryville found its groove in the third quarter to get back in the game. Branscum erupted for 10 points, including two 3-pointers, as the Mustangs opened the period on a 15-3 run to pull within 34-31 entering the final frame.
After scoring 17 points in the second quarter, the Lions were held to just seven points in the third quarter on three field goals.
“I told the guys in a timeout, I think we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win,” White said. “You could tell we were out there just dribbling around, and we didn’t really have a purpose offensively. I tried to get them into some stuff, and we just weren’t able to execute. That comes back to me.
“I do know this, we have to be stronger with the ball and we’ve got to get more confident in ourselves. I think they know that. There are some guys that are disappointed with their performance, but we win together and we lose together. Every guy that had a tough night tonight has had major nights for us in some key wins this year.”
Having flashed its range in the first three quarters with five different players knocking down a shot from behind the arc, Jessieville attacked the basket at will in the final period.
Burleson scored seven points and the Lions converted on 9 of 11 attempts from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. Perryville countered with six points from Chandler Roland and four points from Dawson Bullock to force the overtime period.
After scoring 18 points in regulation, Burleson played the role of facilitator in the extra quarter. The senior did not attempt a shot in overtime, but dished out two assists, including Holloway’s goahead 3-pointer with just over a minute to play.
“Alex is such an unselfish player that he is always willing to give the ball up,” said White. “As a coach, I may look back and say I wish he would have taken some shots, but he made the right plays. We executed well enough in overtime to get the win, we just didn’t get the stops.”
Branscum’s go-ahead shot with 2.5 seconds remaining capped a game-high 21-point performance for the senior. A potential game-winning 3-pointer by Jessieville on the ensuing possession missed its mark.
Bullock finished with 10 points for the Mustangs and Roland had nine points. Burleson’s 18 points paced the Lions and junior Braxton Shifflett added nine points.
Holloway and senior Jacob Bearden each scored eight points for Jessieville.
The Lions will face Manila (22-11) the 3A-3 No. 3 seed at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament at Drew Central in Monticello
“I think this is just going to make this team hungrier,” White said. “The first thing is we have to get some rest. We played three games in a short span so we got some tired guys. After that, it is about having two great days of preparation and I have to do a good job for these guys of getting a plan together.”