The Jefferson City Jays led the Helias Crusaders from start to finish Tuesday night - even though it took an unsually long time to get to that finish.
The Jays never trailed the latest boys basketball installment of the crosstown showdown, outlasting the Crusaders 62-56 in double overtime at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Jefferson City took a 15-8 lead after one quarter and pushed the lead to 24-9 when Seth Stegeman put home a layup less than three minutes into the second period.
"We were excited as coaches to see us start the game well," Jefferson City head coach Blair Thompson said. "I think we won this game (Monday) in practice. It was our best practice - we had guys flying around, talking and ready to play."
The Jays matched that 15-point lead with 2:55 left before halftime when Gunnar See made a layup to run the edge to 26-11.
"You can't spot anybody 15 points midway through the second quarter," Helias head coach Josh Buffington said. "It takes so much out of you just getting back in the game."
Luckily for the Crusaders, they would have plenty of extra time to do just that.
After Jefferson City took a 29-19 lead into intermission, Helias used a 16-12 scoring advantage in the third quarter to cut the Jays' lead to 41-35.
"We were very good defensively tonight," Thompson said. "We had a lapse late in the third where they made that run and got some layups and turned the corner. We had some guys out there on some tired legs, but we cycled through it and once we got some fresh legs, things tightened back up."
The Crusaders tied the game for the first time when Collin Caywood made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:19 to knot it at 47.
The Jays then went 1-of-2 from the line on a pair of trips, sandwiched around a missed layup by the Crusaders, to set up a wild end to regulation.
Helias called a pair of timeouts in the final 24 seconds before getting a layup by Caywood with 8 ticks left on the clock to tie it at 49. Jefferson City was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer, and it went to overtime.
The Jays held a four-point lead after a layup by Kamari Balton with 1:31 left in the first overtime, but a 3-pointer by Isiah Sykes just 14 seconds later got the Crusaders within one.
After Jefferson City made 1-of-2 free throws, Helias' Hale Hentges made a layup with :34 left to tie it at 54.
The Crusaders then forced a turnover, only to miss a deep 3 with :06 left. It was part of a tough long-range effort for Helias, as the Crusaders made just 4-of-28 3s on the night.
"We had a couple of golden opportunities to gain the lead, late in regulation and in both overtimes," Buffington said. "We just couldn't get that big shot to go down."
The Jays had one last chance after a timeout with :02 left, but a good look at a 3 didn't go down.
Jefferson City owned the next extra period, outscoring Helias 8-2 thanks in large part to two big buckets in the paint from Eysan Wiley and Jacob Gourley.
"O.G. (Anunoby) gets a lot of attention, and when the ball left his hands, it was going to take some guys stepping up," Thompson said. "We got the ball to the middle a few times and found some easy buckets. Our whole message was, "We're not trying to avoid turning the ball over, we're trying to score.' I didn't care what the time was on the clock, it was time to score."
The Jays got a monster game from Anunoby in the victory, as he led all players with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Also scoring in double digits for the Jays was Balton with 12.
Sykes paced Helias with 15 points, while Hentges added 14 and Caywood had 10. Trevor Koelling led the Crusaders with seven rebounds.
"It's a tough one to swallow," Buffington said. "We have to refocus, learn from it and lace them up again Friday night."
Jefferson City (9-7) is off until Tuesday when it hosts Waynesville, while Helias (11-4) hosts Fulton on Friday.