In the first round of the Great 8 Classic, the Jefferson City Jays essentially played a game and a half in a quadruple-overtime loss to Western (Ky.).
In Thursday's consolation semifinals against Father Tolton, the Jays struggled to keep runs going as the game went on.
Jefferson City's last gasp came in the middle of the fourth quarter when it scored five straight points to get within 10, but the Jays' tank was empty the rest of the way in a 70-57 loss to the Trailblazers.
"We had a couple moments where we were a stop and a bucket away from tightening things up a little bit, but we just couldn't come up with the stops," Jays coach Blair Thompson said. "I thought we looked sluggish a little bit and I think it showed on both ends of the floor."
The Jays didn't have an answer for Father Tolton point guard Isaiah Wilson, who scored a game-high 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting.
The senior was coming off a 12-point performance in the first round when he shot 4-of-20 from the field.
"(We were) just trying to keep him in front and trying to get help behind, and we didn't do either one of those," Thompson said. "He's a good player, we knew that coming in, and he was allowed to get to the hole at will late down the stretch."
Wilson ended the Jays' late 5-0 spurt with a floater to make Father Tolton's lead 62-50 with 2:35 left.
Wilson added a layup and a pair of free throws to keep the Jays at bay.
Jefferson City shot 20-of-50 from the field, but Charlie Wehmeyer provided a spark off the bench, making 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. The rest of the Jays combined to shoot 3-of-14 from deep.
"He was a positive off the bench," Thompson said. "He hasn't played much, he was ready to go. I like what he brought to the floor. He brought a little energy, knocked down some shots and kept us hanging around a little bit."
Wehmeyer was also the Jays top rebounder with six.
Chuck Cooper was the only other Jay in double figures, scoring 10 on 4-of-8 shooting.
Cooper picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and didn't return until early in the fourth quarter. He was the Jays' top scorer with seven points when he went to the bench.
Up next, Jefferson City (4-4) will play in the seventh-place game against Oxford (Miss.), which lost to Raytown South in the other consolation semifinal.
Thompson said he hopes the team has motivation to get pick up a win in the tournament.
"You would think," Thompson said. "We know we have a young team. I thought our legs were heavy a little bit tonight, but in the same regard they are young and should be able to rally back."
The Jays will hope to find an answer for Jarkel Joiner, who has scored more than 40 in both tournament games.
"Nobody has proved to be able to slow him down much at all," Thompson said. "We're going to the best we can, run some guys at him. He's a special player and and we should look at it as a good challenge for our guys defensively. We'll see what we've got."