It was slow going Tuesday night at Fleming Fieldhouse, a pace the Jefferson City Jays would rather avoid.
But the few times they were able to speed up the tempo, the Jays took advantage and rallied from an eight-point deficit to beat Willard 45-41 in overtime.
A Willard steal and a pair of free throws extended the Tigers' lead to 34-26 with 4:39 left in regulation. Then came a couple minutes of fast-paced basketball.
Kamari Balton hit a jumper shortly after the free throws. Chuck Cooper snatched the ball away two possessions later, leading to a DaMani Jarrett putback to cut the deficit to four with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter.
"We would prefer it to go up and down, but at the same time you're going to run into where you have to be good in the halfcourt," Jays coach Blair Thompson said. "When we're running I think we're at our best."
Jarrett tied Balton for a game-high eight rebounds to go along with six points, all following an offensive rebound.
The Tigers slowed it down once again, but a miss in a one-and-one situation led to Balton making a 3 from the right wing with 55 seconds left.
Balton would hit again, this time from the left side, to tie the game at 37 with 4 seconds left.
Balton led all scorers with 20 points, including draining 3-of-6 from deep. The Jays were 4-of-18 beyond the arc.
"Our shooting percentage is not good," Thompson said. "We had some good looks. When we have guys penetrating and collapsing and kicking I think we're at out best. Kamari is really good in transition and he kind of makes us go."
Willard's half-court shot sailed high to send the game to overtime.
The Tigers won the tip and kept possession for the first two minutes of the extra quarter.
Sam Bird, who paced Willard with 19 points, knocked down a jumper for the first points of OT. But the Tigers only managed two free throws the rest of the way.
Garrett Parker scored the next four points with layups to give the Jays a 41-39 lead with 1:43 left.
Willard shot 2-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch.
The second made free throw tied it at 41 with 46.5 seconds left, but Jarrett once again made a second-chance bucket to give the Jays the lead for good.
"I think Garret Parker kept that ball alive and DaMani was there to clean it up," Thompson said. "Those guys were really active."
Parker blocked a 3-point attempt on the ensuing possession and Cooper sealed it with two free throws.
Willard got out to an early lead, scoring 10 of the first 12 points.
"We came out flat to be honest with you," Thompson said. "I think we were bothered by the amount of defensive pressure that Willard was applying to us. It kind of made it tough for us to reverse the ball and do simple things."
A steal and layup for Willard made it 17-8 in the middle of the second quarter. Willard took a 21-14 lead into halftime.
"This may have been a good thing that this showed its face now," Thompson said of the Jays' half-court struggles. "I thought we were flat and not ready for the physicality that we saw. We'll have to learn to deal with that."
Jefferson City (3-2) is off until Dec. 28 when it opens play in the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic at Fleming Fieldhouse. The Jays will face Western (Ky.) out of Louisville at 7 p.m.
"We've got an athletic team coming in here," Thompson said. "They resemble Hickman a little bit. Maybe not quite as big underneath, but maybe more athletic all the way around."
Jefferson City won Tuesday's JV game 54-37.