Doniphan seniors Matt Maness, center, and Charles and Chandler Wilson pick up the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship trophy Friday night at the Bess Activity Center. (Paul Davis/DAR)

By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

Doniphan got big performances from its senior leaders and used a big second quarter to hold off Twin Rivers 58-49 in the Ozark Foothills Conference championship game Friday night at the Bess Activity Center.

Seniors Tyler Collins and Charles Wilson came through on the biggest stage for the Dons. Collins scored a game-high 25 points while Wilson added 16 points, including 12 in the second half.

Twin Rivers' Kenny Johnson, right, is defended by Doniphan's Tyler Collins during the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament championship game Friday night. (Paul Davis/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

"We won it three years out of our four years of playing," Wilson said. "That's just a great honor."

The championship meeting between the two teams was their sixth since 2000, and the Royals are the only team to beat the Dons in the careers of the current senior class, knocking them off in 2006.

Wilson teamed up with his brother Chandler at the start of the fourth quarter to separate the Dons from the Royals, who refused to go down without a battle.

Chandler drove through the lane to score his first basket of the game, then came up with a steal and a layup less than a minute into the final quarter to stretch the Dons' lead to 39-27. Charles then added a 3-point play to get it to 15 points.

The Dons (17-4) rallied from behind with an 8-2 run in the second quarter, with Collins scoring five of the points on a driving layup and a 3-point play. Mitch Granier added a 3-pointer from the left corner to snap a 13-13 tie and give the Dons their first lead of the game with 2:26 remaining before halftime.

"We just continued to play good, good defense," Doniphan coach Jason Andrews said of his team's rebound from a sluggish first quarter. "It got us some layups in the second quarter, we were able to run."

The Dons began the game by missing their share of shots in the paint. Although they picked up plenty of offensive rebounds, they failed to turn them into points.

"We were taking great shots early, but we couldn't finish. I thought we did a good job of not panicking," Andrews said.

Because of the Dons' inability to put points on the board, the Royals held a five-point lead after the first quarter.

The Dons rallied to take a 22-17 halftime lead, but the Royals (15-8) quickly tied the game with a 5-0 run in the first 2 minutes of the third quarter as Brandon Bruner evened the score with a steal and layup.

Twin Rivers' Kyle Oberkramer, left, and Doniphan's Charles Wilson battle for a rebound Friday night at the Bess Activity Center. (Paul Davis/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

Although they were able to pull even with the Dons, the Royals never seemed to have an answer for the Wilsons when they got going.

Twin Rivers coach Rob Brown said the Dons' physical style of play created problems for his team and made the difference in the game.

"Really the game came down to our defensive miscues and their ability of being strong and physical. We had to really fight to get any points we could get," he said.

"Hats off to Doniphan, they really just took it to us. They're so strong. We had a lot of difficulty because of their defense," he added.

The two teams have combined to win each of the last 11 titles with Doniphan winning six times during that span. The Dons are 3-3 against Twin Rivers in the championship game since 2000.