OFC: Tigers advances with win over Naylor

DONIPHAN — The Neelyville Tigers opened OFC Tournament play with a 58 to 44 victory over the Naylor Eagles on Saturday at Wright Gymnasium in Doniphan.

The second-seeded Tigers (15-7) fell into an early hole when the seventh-seeded Eagles (4-18) came out firing three-pointers on offense and frustrating their opponent on defense to jump out to an 11-3 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.

“With the amount of intensity they brought to start, we started off very slow,” said Neelyville head coach Brad Burdin. “We were not ready to play, and they came out, knocked out some big shots, and played with some confidence, so kudos to them for that.”

The Tigers were patient, however, and turned the tide just as quickly. Neelyville junior Casen Stephens, who led all scorers with 25 points, hit back-to-back three-pointers. The Tigers followed that with a steal and a bucket to tie the game at 11 after 90 seconds. They led 15-13 at the end of the period and never looked back.

“Casen has an impeccable work ethic,” Burdin said. “He is constantly moving on offense, and he often times doesn’t get an easy shot because he’s heavily guarded, but he has a really good squad around him to help him, which makes their job even more important.”

Neelyville outscored Naylor 12 to 6 in the second quarter, with Stephens scoring eight of his 17 first-half points to extend the Tigers’ lead at halftime to 27 to 19.

Stephens opened the second half with a solo 6-0 run to increase their lead to 33-19. Naylor sophomore Sam Rose hit a layup plus a foul shot to cut the deficit to 33-22, which was as close as the Eagles would get. Rose led Naylor’s scoring with 14 points, all coming in the second half.

Neelyville ensured their lead and their victory with precision ball control on the offensive end during the fourth quarter. Perimeter passing, patience, and pinpoint shots ate away at the clock and prevented Naylor from making a final run even though Naylor had a slight scoring edge in the fourth, 14 to 13.

“We wanted to really take control of our turnovers,” Burdin said, “and we just decided it was the best option to end the game with the win.”

Next up for Neelyville is a semifinal game against Twin Rivers on Tuesday, February 6 at 8:30 in Doniphan.