Risco ends regular season on good note with tough OT W at Neelyville

NEELYVILLE – Both varsity boy’s basketball squads at Risco and Neelyville high schools have enjoyed their best seasons in several years, so when they recently met, yes, everyone knew the Tigers would prevail, but which team?

The contest on Thursday went overtime, but in the end, Risco executed how it needed to and left town with a 51-48 overtime win to end its regular season on a positive note.

“It was tough,” veteran Risco coach Branden Blankenship said following the win. “It’s on their home court. It’s Senior Night (at Neelyville). They wanted to win that, and they are a great team.”

Neelyville (16-10) has matched the mark for most wins in four seasons and had played Risco tough (losing 67-63 in the Bernie Invitational in November). The host Tigers led the visiting Tigers 8-5 after one quarter, and 18-16 at halftime.

“Our kids play hard,” Neelyville coach Brad Burdin said. “They show up every day. They are definitely a product of hard work.”

That “hard work” showed most prominently at the defensive end of the floor.

Risco is averaging nearly 69 points per game, which is the most of any team at the school since 2019, but Neelyville stymied the visitors to just 45 points at the end of regulation.

“We’re never going to go out and be more skilled than the other team,” Burdin said, “but we can control the controllables, which are effort and attitude. These kids give 100 percent effort.”

Neelyville still held the lead with 2:27 remaining in regulation, however, Risco buried one of its six 3-pointers to tie the game at 41.

The Risco defense, which has made a significant improvement over recent years statistically, got a defensive stop before junior Sammy Smith sank a bucket to put his team ahead by three with 1:38 remaining.

Neelyville came back and tied the game, but Risco junior Reiley Calvert put back an offensive rebound with 53 seconds on the clock to put the visitors up two points.

Calvert’s rebound was one of several late in the game that Risco was able to grab, which hampered Neelyville’s upset bid.

“We’ve paid attention and put in time on that,” Blankenship said of his team’s effort on the offensive glass. “You always talk about it, but sometimes, it is what you prioritize.

“The guys know that they need to do that.”

Neelyville senior Grant Hale scored the final two points of his 21-point night to tie the game at 45 points with 36 seconds left, which set up Smith to try and be the hero with a shot at the buzzer.

Smith got a great look from about 18 feet inside the key, but it just rimmed out.

“He’s got a great shot,” Blankenship said of Smith.

In the extra session, Smith added four points on a bucket and a pair of free throws while sophomore Owen Fortner hit a couple of free throws, which helped his team seal the win.

On the night, the experienced Risco squad sank 9 of 12 free throws.

Neelyville ended its regular season with an 83-80 loss to Woodland on Saturday, which was its third consecutive defeat. However, those three losses came by a combined 13 points to three teams (Greenville, Risco, and Woodland), which have won a combined 57 games this winter.

“We played a decently tough schedule early,” Burdin said. “As the middle of our season came along, we started to click better. To end the season the way we have, I couldn’t ask for anything more out of these guys.

“They have really produced for us, and we appreciate them.”

Neelyville junior Casen Stephens led his team against Risco with 22 points.

Smith paced Risco with 17 points while Eli Rodgers (12 points) and CJ Blankenship (11 points) also were productive.

Neelyville is the top seed in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 Tournament and will play the winner of No. 4-seed Bernie (10-13) and No. 5-seed Hayti (9-15) on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at Holcomb High School.

Risco is the top seed in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 2 Tournament at Richland (Essex) and will play the winner of No. 4-seed Leopold (13-12) and No. 5-seed Bell City (8-17) on Thursday at 6 p.m.