Mayflower evened the season series with conference rival Baptist Prep Saturday night with a 63-57 victory to earn Region 3A-3's top seed heading into next week's state tournament at Clinton.
The winning margin may have been six at Central Arkansas Christian, but Mayflower Coach Brent Stallings looked like a guy who just got off some kind of amusement park roller-coaster.
Stallings had seen his team lose late leads to Baptist Prep twice in the past month, and Mayflower was up nine in the final three minutes when free throws became an obstacle.
"We've got to make those free throws there at the end," Stallings said. "I can't complain. I'll take it. It's just a battle every time we play. It's taking years off my life."
Senior center Braxton McCuien led Mayflower (23-4) with 22 points, 16 in the second half.
McCuien kept Mayflower in the clear by making 5 of 6 from the line while his teammates hit 6 of 12.
"We could have iced it there at the end," Stallings said.
Mayflower's margin of victory was largest of the season when these two teams have met.
Mayflower won the first game by 5 in December, then Baptist Prep (23-5) won by 1 at Baptist Prep and by 5 in overtime at Mayflower in the 3A-5 conference championship game.
To win Saturday night, Stallings said his team needed to slow down the hot three-point shooting of Daniel Cobb and DJ Townsend.
Cobb led Baptist Prep with 29 points, including eight three-point baskets.
Baptist Prep led 17-12 after one quarter, with Cobb accounting for 15 of his team's points and he finished the first half with 18 points to help his team to a 31-27 lead.
"He was really feeling it," Baptist Prep Coach Steve Miller said of Cobbs.
The second half was a different story.
"Congratulations to them," Miller said. "They played hard, and they won it."
Mayflower outscored Baptist Prep 19-10 in the third quarter, and led 50-41 with 5:18 to play.
"We played great defense the second half," Stallings said. "Slowed Cobb down, slowed Townsend down. That's what was doing it for us. Kept attacking the basket, kept attacking the basket. That's the way they beat us, that's the way we beat them."
Cobb's eighth three-pointer cut the lead to 58-53 with 1:33 to play.
Mayflower had three chances to extend the lead at the foul line, but Arian King , Westin Pickell and Bj Gilliam were a combined 4 for 10 in the final 1:22, and Baptist Prep remained in striking distance at 61-56 with 31.1 seconds.
Pickell and McCuien each went 1 of 2 to keep Mayflower ahead.
"Both of us can score," Stallings said, trying to explain why the teams play such close games. "Somewhere along the way, somebody's got to stop the other.
"And if you stop the other one, and as long as you're scoring while you're stopping them, eventually you're going to get the lead.
"That's what so often happens, either both of us are scoring, or both of us are stopped."
Stallings used a playground reference to explain how the games have gone.
"When somebody finally gets that little edge, it's like a see-saw," he said. "It's whoever sees the last time, not the saw, I guess."