BROSELEY -- This time the 3-pointer at the buzzer didn't fall for the Donettes.
Naylor held off a late rally by Doniphan for a 50-48 win to place fifth in the Lady Royals Christmas Classic on Friday, 11 days after losing to their county rivals on a late go-ahead 3-pointer.
"We gritted it out and finally did what we had to do to win it," Eagles coach Gene Deckard said.
The Donettes whittled a 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit down to three with a little more than two minutes remaining before a wild finish.
"We knew coming into it we were going to have to play hard," said Naylor senior Callee Pickrell, who scored a game-high 29 points and was named to the all-tournament.
"I felt like my team stepped up and made a good comeback to get fifth place."
Naylor also placed fifth last year with a 38-21 win over Doniphan.
This time, the Eagles (5-7) held off Doniphan (7-4).
Doniphan's Savanah Aaron missed a foul shot with a chance to tie the game with 63 seconds left but the senior drew a charge on the other end. It took a basket away from Naylor and fouled out sophomore Faith Sullivan with 22 seconds left.
But the Donettes turned it over as Aaron was driving the baseline looking for a go-ahead basket. Pickrell split two foul shots with 4.9 seconds left and Paige Eddington's long 3 missed the mark.
"We had our chance and it just didn't happen," Donettes coach Larry Mueller said. "Last time it did."
Naylor took a 38-23 lead into the fourth quarter but Doniphan put together a 17-5 run after switching its defense.
The Donettes forced nine turnovers the rest of the way. Aaron's steal led to a three-point play by Eddington with 4 1/2 minutes left, cutting the deficit to single digits for the first time since early in the third quarter.
Lexi Day, who hit the game-winner at Naylor, sank a 3 midway through the fourth to pull Doniphan within five. Pickrell broke Doniphan's press to score Naylor's first field goal in two minutes but Aaron answered with a 3.
"We flipped to man-to-man, which we hadn't run a whole lot this year but we've practiced it," Mueller said. "Down like we are, let's just go full court and see what happens. Maybe we should be a man-to-man team."
Doniphan scored more points in the fourth quarter (25) than the previous three (23).
Aaron led the Donettes with 13 points while Eddington, an all-tournament selection, scored nine of her 12 points in the fourth. Jakelyn Friend scored eight of her 10 points in the first quarter, accounting for all of Doniphan's points.
Naylor led 11-8 after one quarter but scored eight straight early in the second. The Eagles took a 23-18 lead into halftime.
Maddy Cagle scored all eight of her points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the third quarter as Naylor pulled away. The Eagles scored nine straight points to lead 32-18 with 5:13 left in the third.
While the third-place game saw the host Royals overcome a 33-18 third-quarter deficit, the Donettes trailed by more in the fourth when Kaylynn Johnson's free throw put Naylor up 39-23 with 7 1/2 minutes to play.
"I told the kids they were going to get tired because we hadn't played that style," Deckard said. "Now during the break we're going to get in shape so we can play that way for four quarters."