The West Prairie High School boys basketball team rallied from 18 points down in the first half to edge past Payson-Seymour 76-75 Thursday night in Payson to extend its winning streak to 16 games.
With the non-conference road win, the Cyclones improved to 21-4 for the season.
The host Indians came out hot to start and got back-to-back treys from Nolan Sparks and Landon Gooding to go up 6-0.
WPHS managed to battle back as a Braden Coplan three-pointer at the two minute mark deadlocked the score at 12-12.
Payson-Seymour would finish the quarter on an 11-4 run, including three more treys, propelling the Indians to a 23-16 lead going into the second quarter.
The hosts shot 71 percent (5-for-7) from beyond the arc in the opening eight minutes to ignite the offense.
Payson would continue its torrid start to begin the second quarter by outscoring WPHS 13-2 over the first three minutes to take its largest lead of the night at 36-18 with just over five minutes left in the first half.
A Coplan trey began to turn the momentum around for the Cyclones, who started to storm back despite the Indians’ perimeter scoring.
Coplan would score 17 of the Cyclones final 19 points before halftime to help bring WPHS to within 47-37 at intermission.
The Payson-Seymour offense cooled down, but still shot 50 percent (4-for-8) from the three-point line in the period and 60 percent (9-for-15) for the half.
WPHS head coach Ian Conkling wasn’t surprised by the Payson-Seymour offensive performance in the first half.
“They were hitting some outside contested shots at a very high percentage and it kind of snowballed on us,” said Conkling. “I think it was a little bit of a shock factor. We scouted them prior and they have the ability to shoot the outside shot and at a high percentage if they get hot.”
“I felt our energy was there, but our kind of defensive effort and communication lacked throughout the first half,” he added.
The Cyclones did pick up the intensity in the third quarter by outscoring the Indians 26-18 in the period.
A Coplan three-point play at the 4:08 mark gave West Prairie its first lead of the game at 55-54. But with the game tied at 57-all, Coplan would pick up his fourth personal foul and head to the bench for the remainder of the quarter.
That’s when younger brother Holden Coplan stepped up to score the last six points of the period to keep WPHS within two at 65-63 after three quarters.
With Braden Coplan on the bench, Conkling was forced into another lineup change early in the fourth quarter when Matt Whitman temporarily left the game with a leg injury with just under seven minutes to go.
A basket by freshman Gannon Shipman tied the score at 65-65 before Payson got consecutive baskets from Sparks to extend its advantage to 69-65.
Braden Coplan reentered the game as did Whitman a short time later, both playing with four fouls. The pair would account for the next nine West Prairie points, including a basket by Coplan with less than a minute remaining to put the Cyclones up 74-73.
A layup by Liam Maddox gave the hosts a 75-74 lead with 30 seconds to go forcing Conkling to call a timeout.
After inbounding the ball out from underneath their own basket, Braden Coplan found Holden Coplan open for the go-ahead layup with 13 seconds remaining.
Payson-Seymour set up one final play in the Indians’ halfcourt with five seconds left. But a pass intended for Sparks inside was knocked away, allowing the clock to run out and preserve the victory for the Cyclones.
Braden Coplan led a trio of WPHS players in double figures with a game-high 39 points, while Whitman and Holden Coplan had 14 and 13 points respectively.
Ryan Clark also had four points and Austin Nelson had two points for the Cyclones.
Eli DeCounter finished with three points and also a team-high 10 rebounds and six assists.
Sparks finished with 28 points to lead the Indians who fell to 2-17 overall.
WPHS shot 56 percent (30-for-54) from the floor, including 43 percent (9-for-21) from beyond the arc.
Payson-Seymour finished 11-for-19 (58 percent) from the three-point line.
As to his halftime message to the team, Conkling didn’t mince words to motivate his squad’s second half performance.
“You know...a few choice words at halftime and a little bit of a heart-to-heart and a challenge,” said Conkling. “They came out ready to go. Whitman hit an open shot to start the second half and I felt that gave us a little more confidence and had us heading in the right direction.”
The WPHS junior varsity made it a clean sweep for the night by defeating Payson-Seymour 45-34 to improve to 18-2 for the season.
Mason Whitman and Tyson Carnes led the Cyclones with nine points each.
Gannon Shipman and Ivan Beck added eight points apiece, Ayden Lacey had seven and Holden Coplan and Cam Melvin each finished with two points.
