The North Callaway Thunderbirds made a furious comeback in hopes of ending the undefeated start of the rival South Callaway Bulldogs.
The spurt came up one bucket short as the Bulldogs outlasted the T-Birds 58-56 on Monday.
North Callaway senior guard Brandon Hagedorn's look at a potential shot to force overtime grazed off the side rim as time expired to preserve the win for South Callaway.
The Bulldogs (9-0) led 39-23 at halftime, then started the third quarter with a quick 5-0 run to stretch the gap to 21 points.
From there, North Callaway (1-8) closed the game outscoring South Callaway 33-14 and found itself trailing by only a point on its penultimate possession.
"Give North Callaway credit and the energy they brought in the second half," Bulldogs head coach Tony Brandt said. "We did not hit shots or free throws down the stretch and got back on our heels."
The T-Birds proceeded to turn the ball over, then fouled to send South Callaway to the line.
South Callaway hit 1-of-2 from the line, allowing North Callaway its one last shot at the forcing an extra period.
"It was a great effort by the team; we got down by 21 (points) because in the first half and early in the second half, we didn't block out on the defensive end and did not make our shots.
"But the kids never gave up."
Senior forward Michael Pezold paced the T-Birds with a game-high 19 points, while senior center Steven Coleman posted 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Senior guard Troy Hentges notched 18 points to spark South Callaway and senior forward Luke Horstman scored 10.
The Bulldogs prevailed in the JV game 58-48. Freshman guard Kaden Helsel led South Callaway with a game-high 19 points. Sophomore forward Grayson Peneston tallied 16 and sophomore guard Blake Parker added 10 for the Bulldogs (9-0).
Freshman forward Sam Althiser paced North Callaway (1-8) with 14 points.
The T-Birds snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 52-37 Eastern Missouri Conference road triumph over the Wellsville Warriors on Saturday.
North Callaway led 29-23 at half, and limited Wellsville to just 14 second-half points.
Hagedorn paced three T-Birds in double figures with 14 points, while handing out five assists.
Pezold and junior guard Manzell Payne each tallied 12 points and junior guard Braden Shramek posted nine points on three first-half 3-pointers.
Coleman collected seven rebounds for North Callaway.
"In our practices, it started to show what we'd been trying to do in games and it showed tonight," Thomas said. "We're improving every game."
Wellsville (2-7, 0-3 EMO) got 14 points from Jacob Ussery, while Seth Oliver scored 10.
The T-Birds dropped to 1-7 with a 53-23 JV loss to Wellsville. Althiser paced North Callaway with nine points. Tyler Bunch led the Warriors with 21 points.
The T-Birds play an EMO contest at Montgomery County at 6 p.m. Friday. South Callaway host Chamois in Show-Me Conference action at 6 tonight in a varsity-only game.