Cardinals charge back from 15 down to silence Raiders
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Mineral Area guard Jordyn Richard releases a bounce pass from the backcourt during first half men’s basketball action against St. Louis on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Park Hills. (Matt King, Daily Journal)
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – The Mineral Area men completed another fierce comeback to frustrate their chief rival after Three Rivers failed to protect a sizable lead on Saturday night.
The basketball once again found the hands of Joseph Scott at the decisive moment, and his two free throws with 1.7 seconds to play lifted the Cardinals to a thrilling 56-54 road victory.
Mineral Area delivered a 15-2 scoring run with stingy defense over the final five minutes, and was helped by a strong 22-of-30 showing from the charity stripe.
Preston Turner banked in a floater, and followed with two free throws to make it 54-49. The Cardinals then owned the possession arrow on a jump ball following a missed Three Rivers layup.
Jordyn Richard finished a perimeter lob pass from Di’Ari Duncan, and eventually tied the game at 54-54 on a drive down the lane after the Raiders had an empty three-shot trip.
A traveling call in the paint gave the Cardinals a chance to hold for the win. Turner drew a crowd of defenders on a layup try that may have been partially deflected.
Scott, whose tiebreaking layup beat the Raiders two weeks earlier, snared the rebound and was fouled on the putback attempt. Three Rivers missed a 40-footer as time expired.
Turner totaled 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Richard added 12 points, and Duncan notched 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks for Mineral Area (16-9, 4-4).
Matt Hampton played all 40 minutes and scored a game-high 20 points for Three Rivers (15-9, 5-3). He answered a 3-pointer by Turner with an uncontested dunk and free throws to restore at 52-41 margin.
The Raiders had established their largest lead of 47-32 after Hampton slashed for a layup and Demetris White drained a corner triple with 8:33 remaining.
But their next three possessions concluded in turnovers. Edwon Duling Jr. stole a baseline pass and zipped a long outlet pass to Turner to spark the steady rally.
Both teams finished with 17 turnovers and shot 35 percent from the field. MAC netted five more free throws than the Raiders, who were 17-of-29.
Mineral Area posted the largest lead of the first half at 19-13 after Marcelous Phillips tipped in a rebound and added a subsequent perfect trip to the line.
Ethan Johnson countered with seven straight points for the Raiders, including a tying 3-pointer. His baseline runner at the halftime buzzer gave his team a 26-23 edge.
Robert Alexander equaled Johnson with nine points, and White had game highs of eight assists and eight rebounds along with seven points.
Mineral Area travels to MSU-West Plains next Saturday. The home team has prevailed while splitting the previous two encounters.
