PIEDMONT -- It took Naylor 16 minutes to work up the courage to attack some Tigers, and by then it was too late.
Neelyville held Naylor to four points in the second quarter and nearly tripled its lead before eventually winning 66-36 in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament semifinals.
"We have some size and some athleticism, we tried to work the ball and get it inside so we could get a bucket or two. It was working for us. I thought Curtis (Fowler) and Marquise (West) really worked the paint well. We got to the basket and did a good job of finishing inside. So I was happy," Neelyville coach Patrick Morton said.
The Tigers will play Twin Rivers in the championship 8 p.m. Friday at the Bess Activity Center at Three Rivers College.
Fowler opened the game with a dunk that proved to be a bit of foreshadowing. Not that the semifinal was a slam fest, but that Neelyville's size inside controlled the game throughout the first half.
The Tigers had the three tallest players on the floor in Fowler, Jemaane Williams and Marquise West, and all three played at the same time for much of the game, and in a variety of roles both in the paint and on the perimeter.
"We settled for jump shots. We started attacking in the second half and when we did we were able to get inside. We didn't always make them but in the first half, I guess there was an intimidation factor. We can come out and shoot sometimes, but we didn't come out and shoot tonight," Naylor coach Jim Carrier said. "You can't just take jump shots when you have 6-6, 6-4, 6-3 waiting to get the rebound. You have to go attack and make them foul you or get inside, draw the defense in, then you can kick it out for a shot."
Fowler finished with 19 points while Williams got seven and West had six. Tyler Lowe led Neelyville with 20 points after making a pair of 3-pointers and going 4 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Neelyville (17-4) was ahead by seven going into its dominant second quarter. Jordan Cook scored a putback to open the quarter and get Naylor (7-11) within five points, but the Eagles didn't score again until the final minute, when he got another bucket.
"I thought our guys did a good job of moving and cutting off the drive," Morton said. "We were fortunate they missed a couple of shots. We left them open on a couple and fortunately they didn't go down for them. We want to try to score in the paint and keep other teams from scoring in the paint. Overall in the second quarter, I thought we did a really good job of that."
In the meantime, Neelyville went on a 14-point run that included another dunk and six total points by Fowler. Lowe added three points, Russom sank a 3 and Williams scored, too.
Lowe's layup with 30 seconds to go made it 32-13 going into halftime and increased Neelyville's lead from seven points to 19 in eight minutes.
At the break, Carrier challenged the Eagles to become more aggressive and they responded.
The second half was largely even with the lead hovering around 20 points, until a few late Neelyville baskets gave them their biggest lead of the game, 30 points.
Ward had 18 points for half of Naylor's total output. He had 14 points in the second half, including nine in the third quarter.
"That's typical Zeke Ward. That is what I expect from him. He's played basketball his whole life with two brothers who will absolutely hammer him at home. He's not afraid to go in there and get contact and put it up. He's not going to settle for jump shots, he is going to go attack. Usually he sets the tone and pretty much says, 'Guys follow me,'" Carrier said.
Added Morton, "I don't think we really adapted that well. I thought Ward really got the better of us in the second half, especially in the third quarter. He really started to find his groove and get to the rim and make tough shots. He's so crafty. He can get to the rim, he has good control, he can score over our bigs, and he did a really good job of finishing at the bucket tonight."