WARDSVILLE, Mo. - One of the game's smaller players came up big on a drive though the paint Saturday, helping the Blair Oaks boys basketball team to a 57-53 win against the Willard Tigers.
Cody Alexander, all 5-foot-10 of him, slashed through the lane for a layup with 42 seconds left that provided the game's ninth and final lead change, putting Blair Oaks up 54-53.
Then for good measure, Alexander helped the Falcons salt away the win by coming up with a steal just four seconds later as the Tigers tried to come up with an answering score.
The Falcons then made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 19 seconds to salt away the victory.
Alexander said his bucket was the product of improvisation.
"The play was to get off a screen and throw back to Kory (Franks), but then I saw their guys weren't helping down and I saw the lane and I took it."
Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said the play was an example of Alexander's skills.
"Cody is so sneaky with the ball - he changes speeds and changes pace so well that he's really hard to guard," Fick said. "He just kind of got lost in there. Guys (on Willard) didn't communicate on a switch and left him an open lane to the basket and he finished."
The score was a product of perseverance for the Falcons. The Tigers took a 53-50 lead with 3:09 left in the game, only to see the Falcons' Owen Luebbering get a layup 15 seconds later.
With Willard's lead down to one, things got crazy for a bit.
The Tigers turned it over, but the Falcons missed a 3-pointer. Williard committed another turnover, but the Falcons came up empty on two free throws.
After another Willard turnover, Blair Oaks finally got its answer.
"You can't think about what happened before, you just have to keep looking forward, play after play," Alexander said.
The back-and-forth finish was fitting for a game in which the momentum see-sawed between the teams.
Willard scored the game's first seven points, took a 16-8 lead after one period and claimed their biggest lead at 18-8 less than one minute into the second quarter.
That's when Blair Oaks ripped off an 18-2 run to go up 26-20, forcing Willard into nine turnovers in 14 possessions. The Tigers were 1-of-6 from the field on the other five trips.
"Willard really gets after you defensively," Fick said. "They get out in the passing lanes and have active, quick hands. If you put the ball in front of them, they're going to get a hand on it. I think it took us a little while to get used to the physicality.
"I'm really happy with the way our guys responded. We got down 10, but we just kept battling. We talked to them in timeouts about getting good possessions, being strong with the ball. We took advantage of (Willard) overplaying just enough that it made them adjust the way they were guarding us."
Blair Oaks took a 29-26 lead into intermission, but Willard started the second half the way it did the first. The Tigers scored eight straight points out of the locker room to go up 34-29.
But the Falcons rallied to take a 40-38 lead after three quarters.
Blair Oaks took its biggest lead all night at 48-40 with 5:34 left after a 3 by C.J. Closser, but Willard had one last push. Back-to-back three-point plays, followed by a 3-pointer, gave the lead back to the Tigers and kept things interesting down the stretch.
The Falcons (3-1) overcame 19 turnovers in the win thanks to forcing the Tigers (0-5) into 24.
"The way they guard is hard to replicate," Fick said. "We want to be lower than 19, but to force them into 24 is good."
Franks led a balanced effort for the Falcons with 12 points, while Closser and Luebbering added 11 each. Luebbering just missed a double-double by snagging a game-high nine rebounds.
The young Tigers, who started two freshmen and a sophomore, got a game-high 16 points from senior Trayton Griffin. Houston Johnson, a sophomore, added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds and freshman Kobe Holloman had 11.
Blair Oaks returns to action at 6 p.m. Monday in the Linn Tournament against Cuba.
In the JV game, Willard claimed a 32-31 win. Dylan Skinner had 10 points to pace the Falcons (2-1), who host their JV tournament next week. Blair Oaks opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday against California.