SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Neelyville has beaten five consecutive state ranked opponents. It needs to beat one more.
Neelyville defeated defending state champion and top-ranked Skyline 63-57 to advance to the MSHSAA Class 2 championship game for the second time in three years.
The fifth-ranked Tigers will play third-ranked Mid-Buchanan at 2:40 p.m. Friday at the JQH Arena.
"I'm a little nervious about it, but I know my teammates have got my back," said junior Autumn Dodd who scored a team-high 19 points in the semifinal.
Neelyville led by as much as 18 points late in the third quarter Thursday but had the lead cut to three points with 90 seconds left.
"We got the job done," Neelyville coach Becky Hale said. "...I knew they were going to make a big run and they did. But we held on to it."
The breaks were not going Neelyville's way. With 2 1/2 minutes left, J'Kayla Fowler was called for traveling. At the other end of the court, center Rhegan Tutor picked up her fourth foul.
Immediately after that, Jentri Worley was called for a charge. Skyline's Kaylee DaMitz cut the lead to three points and Neelyville called a timeout.
Out of the break, Neelyville pulled off a long pass that Skyline coach Kevin Cheek foresaw against Skyline's man press.
"Two trips before we talked about what was coming. We chased a kid forward and knew who was going deep. That was a big play for them," he said.
Fowler ran down the pass and finished a three-point play to double Neelyville's lead.
"We knew she could outrun them. She got a good layup in and was able to score off it," Hale said.
The final minute was full of counter punches.
Jump balls on consecutive possessions, back-court violations on consecutive possessions. The clock ticked past 30 seconds with Neelyville still up by six.
Skyline started fouling and put Worley, a 77 percent free-throw shooter, on the line each time in the closing possessions.
Worley went 1 for 2 twice, with DaMitz scoring four points at the other end, cutting the lead to four points with seven seconds left.
"It was a constant battle. We'd score two and they'd score three," DaMitz said.
Worley toed the foul line one last time with five seconds left and, with the Neelyville fans rising to their feet, sank both to ice the game. She finished with 11 points and eight rebounds after getting one field goal, a 3-pointer, in the first half.
"If I didn't have to score any, I was going to go rebound for them and play my best defense to get us the W," Worley said.
Neelyville won the hustle plays.
It held Skyline to 17.4 percent shooting in the first half and didn't allow a 3-pointer until midway through the third quarter. Neelyville had 15 offensive rebounds, led by four from Tutor, and grabbed eight more rebounds overall. That defense and rebounding largely contributed to the 18-point lead.
Up by seven with two minutes left in the third quarter, Neelyvlle went on an 11-0 run. Six of that was off missed Skyline 3-pointers where Neelyville grabbed the long rebound and found either Autumn Dodd or Lexi Liau for the runout. Dodd had seven points during the run and Liau scored four.
Early in the fourth quarter, all five Neelyville players hit the floor chasing the same loose ball as it bounced from near the basket out toward midcourt and eventually out of bounds.
Skyline made up for shooting 9 percent worse than Neelyville by going 21 for 23 on free throws. DaMitz was 14 for 14 and finished with 28 points and six rebounds.
"We were just trying to stay in front of her," Hale said. "We knew she was a scorer and distributes the ball well. We were just trying to be active. If you are guarding her, just try to get a hand up, check the shot and be active so she don't get a pass to somebody else."
Neelyville committed 14 turnovers after opening the game with turnovers on its first three possessions. But after that third one, Fowler stole it right back and Dodd scored to tie the game at 2-all.
"I was really nervous actually. But then when you start playing you kind of forget about it," Dodd said about the start of the game.
Added Worley, "I was a little nervous but I told my team I wasn't just to give them some satisfaction. I knew when the ball went up that would all go away."
Fowler, who had 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals, gave Neelyville its first lead with a three-point play and with four minutes left in the first quarter. Dodd put Neelyville ahead for good with a pair of free throws.
The defense held Skyline to seven points and one field goal in the second quarter.
"We started off a little shaky, but defensively we were on fire," Hale said.
Neelyville took its first double-digit lead when Mackenzie Hobbs opened the second half with a corner 3.
After building that 18-point lead late in the third quarter, DaMitz was fouled on a desperation 3 at the buzzer. She made all three free throws, which started a 10-0 run inching closer to the lead.
"The fourth quarter was outstanding. The third quarter was a little shaky," Cheek said. "Today was the first day where I thought we played a little bit like, almost trying not to lose ... you can't beat a team like Neelyville when you are playing not to lose."