It hasn't been in the cards for the Jefferson City Jays to get a first-round victory in the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic. Even the 6-0 Jays couldn't break the streak of seven straight first-round defeats. Is there a curse?
"I've got to answer that question for another year," Jefferson City coach Mark Anderson said following Thursday night's 59-54 loss to Craigmont (Tenn.) at Fleming Fieldhouse. "I don't have an answer for it. I thought we had a pretty good game plan against these guys and had a lead in the third quarter and just had an awful stretch."
Anderson was referring to a 7-minute span in the second half when the Jays could only get a jumper from Jared Cooper on the scoreboard.
A 40-34 lead with about three minutes left in the third quarter became a 51-42 deficit with about 4 minutes remaining in the game.
A Craigmont steal and layup for Terrence Cotton tied it at 40 with :45 left in the third quarter. The Jays had six of their 19 turnovers in the third quarter against the Chiefs' pressure defense.
"We did a lot of work against six defenders, we did a lot of work with no dribbling," Anderson said of preparing for Craigmont. " It's hard to simulate that in practice. You can't simulate their quickness."
Jordan Wilson gave the Chiefs a 45-42 lead, their first since late in the first half, with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the right wing with a Jays defense draped over him.
The pace slowed to start the final quarter as the teams combined for six possessions in the first 3:30 of the quarter.
The Chiefs scored the first fourth-quarter points with 4:32 on the clock and added two more buckets in less than a minute to lead 51-42 with 3:55 left.
The Jays called a timeout and quickly got back into the game.
Hudson Nilges, who made 4-of-8 from beyond the arc to tie for a team-high 12 points, knocked down a long-range shot from the wing out of the timeout.
Nilges found his spot on the wing two possessions later and connected again to make it a three-point game.
Brennan Jeffries kept the Jays hot from deep with a 3 to tie it at 51 with 1:50 left.
"Hudson got hot there at the end," Anderson said. "We got back to a tie game a little bit quicker than I think we thought we would and gave up an easy basket on the other side."
Caleb Mosley, who had 11 points for the Chiefs, made a jumper to give Craigmont the lead for good with 1:25 left.
Down 55-51, Nilges added yet another 3 but his next shot was off the mark and Craigmont made four free throws in the final 33 seconds to seal the win.
"We were trying to get (Nilges) and it didn't work out the way we wanted it to," Anderson said. "Give credit to Craigmont, they are hard to play against because they are obviously athletic and you just don't have easy looks."
Jeffries had 12 points and DaMani Jarrett added 11 on 5-of-7 shooting. Jarrett scored 10 points in the first half.
"Not much after that," Anderson said. "Not enough. We're just not giving him enough touches. Craigmont's pressure bothered us and it wasn't easy to get the ball inside because we couldn't measure up passes."
Antwan Campbell was a tough matchup inside for the Jays as he led Craigmont with 16 points and six rebounds. Cotton scored 13 for the Chiefs.
Jefferson City (6-1) will face Father Tolton (4-2) at 5:30 p.m. today in the loser's bracket semifinals.
Craigmont (10-5) advances to play Upper Arlington (Ohio) (6-0) at 5:30 p.m. today in the winner's bracket semifinals.