C2D1: Tigers shock Campbell, will play for district title

SENATH — The Neelyville Tigers boys basketball team proved to Campbell it is indeed hard to beat a good basketball team three times in one season.

After suffering a pair of losses to the Camels in December, the Tigers used a strong second half to rally past Campbell 57-45 Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Class 2 District 1 Tournament at Senath-Hornersville High School.

The Camels entered Wednesday's game ranked seventh in Class 2.

“Winning against a very good Campbell team feels really good,” Neelyville coach Brad Burdin said. “They compete hard and can shoot the ball really well. We were able to execute and live to see another day.”

With Wednesday's win, the Tigers improved to 13-13 on the season — including a 12-4 record since the start of 2025. That stretch included a six-game winning streak to end January and included Neelyville handing powerful South Iron a 61-56 loss on Jan. 31 at Annapolis.

At Senath on Wednesday, the Tigers trailed Campbell 19-11 after the opening period and 29-21 at halftime.

That's when Neelyville began to come alive, especially on the defensive end, holding the Camels (21-7) to one field goal and four points in a pivotal third period. By the start of the fourth quarter, the Tigers had turned an eight-point halftime deficit into a 35-33 lead.

“At halftime, we refocused and reviewed the game plan and discussed the areas we need to maintain focus on,” Burdin said. “I told my guys, 'win or lose, enjoy this ride.' We were taking good shots in the first half — the shots just weren't falling. We were able to defend and shots started to fall at the right time.”

The shots continued to fall in the final period, as Neelyville outscored the Camels 22-12 to pull away and pull off the upset.

Casen Stephens led the Tigers with 19 points, while Carson Parker added 13, Kye Wolfram had 12 and Zak Cowley finished with seven.

Caiden Mayberry paced Campbell with 15 points, while Layden Kellum added 12 and Drew Fowler finished with 11.

Neelyville will be back in Senath at 7 p.m. on Friday to face Hayti for the district title. The Indians beat South Pemiscot 81-69 on Wednesday to make it to the championship game.

Hayti and the Tigers played each other on Jan. 7 at Neelyville, with the Indians winning 62-58.

CLASS 2 DISTRICT 3

Puxico 67, Chaffee 37

At Bloomfield, the top-seeded Indians rode a fast start past Chaffee and into a district championship matchup with traditional area power Charleston.

Puxico (24-3) led 22-4 after the opening period behind a 13-point outburst from Jett Hancock, then the Indians pushed their lead to 35-12 by the intermission.

“It feels good,” Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said. “The goal is to be in this (district title) game.”

The Indians were in a groove behind the arc Wednesday, draining 10 3-pointers in the game.

Landan Burchard led Puxico with 25 points, while Hancock rode his hot start to 17 points, Jerrett Powell added eight and Scyler Zimmerman finished with six.

Nolan Fowler paced Chaffee with 12 points.

The Indians will take on Charleston for the district title at 6 p.m. on Friday. Charleston downed Oran 67-52 in Wednesday's other semifinal contest.