As far as strategies go it’s hard to argue with Caruthersville’s heading into overtime against New Madrid County Central Tuesday night in the Class 3, District 1 semifinals. “The plan was don’t lose,” Tiger’s heads coach Lamont Bell said of talking to his team before the extra session. “I said don’t lose this. You fought to get to overtime, so win it in overtime. The guys bought in and refused to lose.” It’s hard to argue with the results as sixth-seeded Caruthersville, who didn’t lead at any point in regulation, ended the second-seeded Eagles’ season 56-54, making it two straight upsets for the Tigers as they head into Friday’s title game against top-seeded Charleston. “I just felt if we can keep it close going into the fourth quarter we’d have a chance to win,” Bell said. “That’s two teams pretty even on both sides. We knew it could have went either way. We got stops when it mattered and was able to pull it off.” NMCC (12-14) took the lead in the opening minute of the game and didn’t let up through three quarters, building a 45-37 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Momentum started shifting the Tigers’ way soon after, however, with Dalton Priett opening the final frame with a 3-pointer while the Eagles went almost seven minutes into the fourth without a field goal. Forced to survive at the free throw line, NMCC saw Caruthersville reel off a 10-3 run that closed them within a point, 48-47, with 2:01 to play. A Thailin Marsh basket with 1:18 to play extended the Eagles’ leads to three, but Keivon Smith answered for the Tigers (11-13) with a game-tying 3-pointer. After Smith knotted things up with 58 seconds on the clock, the Eagles tried to close things out in regulation, but a Johnnie Walker jumper with just a couple seconds left rimmed in and out. Caruthersville drew first blood in overtime with a Deandre Davis bucket from the paint, which he repeated soon after to give his team a 54-50 lead with 2:00 to play. A Christen Phillips jumper brought NMCC back within a basket, 54-53, but a missed shot on their next possession and several turnovers forced the Eagles into fouling late to stay alive. Priett then sunk a pair of free throws on a one-and-one attempt with 13 seconds on the clock to again push his team back out by two possessions. With no room for error, NMCC came back down the floor and saw their initial shot miss before Donnie Ray Brown put the ball in at the buzzer to make up the final. “We can’t think from behind, and that’s what happened,” Eagles’ head coach Lennies McFerren said. “We were shell-shocked at that time because we led all through the game. All of a sudden we were behind and couldn’t come back.” NMCC didn’t do themselves a favor at the free throw line, going 10 for 19 from the charity stripe, including a 3 of 7 effort in the fourth quarter. Caruthersville was 10 of 13 on free throws, hitting 4 of 7 combined in the fourth quarter and overtime. Davis led the way with 17 points while Nicholas Moore and Danny Johnson scored 13 and 11 points respectively. Smith was the fourth Tiger in double-digits with 10 points. Phillips led the Eagles with 17 points while Walker was second on the team with 10 points. “I didn’t think we did what we needed to do to win,” McFerren said. “We stopped doing the things that got us a couple of victories. Tonight we reverted back to our old ways. “That’s what happened when you do that against a team that has some talent like Caruthersville. They deserved to win.” Caruthers. 6 19 12 13 6 – 56 NMCC 13 16 16 5 4 – 54 CARUTHERSVILLE (56) – Dalton Priett 5, Danny Johnson 11, Keivon Smith 10, Deandre Davis 17, Nicholas Moore 13. FG 21, FT 10-13, F 17. (3-pointers: Priett 1, Johnson 1, Smith 2. Fouled out: none.) NMCC (54) – Thailin Marsh 9, Johnnie Walker 10, Christen Phillips 17, Bryshawn Williams 4, Ke’von Williams 8. FG 22, FT 10-19, FT 15. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)