In a thriller that went down to the wire, Friday's first semifinal was deadlocked after three quarters before the Cardinals won the final frame 17-13 to secure a spot in the tourney title game.

The Cardinals had to come from behind in this one.

Plagued by early turnovers, Webb City trailed by five at the end of the opening frame at 16-11.

The Panthers led 21-13, but the Cardinals put together an 11-4 run to pull within one at 25-24. Raymore-Peculiar scored the final six points of the first half to take a 31-24 halftime advantage.

Ignited by eight points from junior guard Eli Pace, Webb City outscored Ray-Pec 14-7 in the third quarter, and the game was tied at 38 heading into the fourth period.

The Cardinals started the fourth quarter on a 9-2 surge, but the Panthers kept coming.

Webb City senior guard Barron Duda knocked down a fadeaway 3-pointer from the left corner to give his team a 52-47 lead with 1:30 left.

Ray-Pec scored four straight points, but a free throw from junior Joseph DeGraffenreid with 29 seconds left and two clutch charities from senior Omari Jackson with 17 seconds remaining accounted for the final score. The Panthers had two costly turnovers late in the game.

Pace scored 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting and also had five assists to lead the Cardinals, while Duda added 19 points and nine rebounds. Junior Holton Keith added seven points and sophomore Gabe Johnson contributed nine rebounds.