MARTINS FERRY — Columbiana and Martins Ferry both suffered setbacks Tuesday night in their respective semifinals of the OVAC 3A Basketball Tournament. Consequently, the two squads squared off in a consolation tilt Friday in Tolbert Gymnasium.

The fourth-seeded Purple Riders, ousted from the OVAC Tournament by unbeaten and top-seeded Wheeling Central, turned in a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde performance en route to a thrilling 76-74 victory.

Ferry went through the motions for nearly three quarters, trailing by as many as 16 points after intermission. Coach Derek Edwards’ charges, however, flipped the switch and played lights out over the final 10 minutes of the game in winning for the 14th time in 21 starts.

The loss was just the sixth against 15 wins for Columbiana. The second-seeded Clippers were ousted from the OVAC tourney on their home boards by Monroe Central.

Ferry found itself trailing 55-39 in the late stages of the third quarter. The Purple Riders, feeding off the energy of frosh Jakori Cox, found traction by running off the final 10 points of the third quarter, cutting the deficit 55-49 entering a frenetic fourth period.

The Purple Riders finally took the lead at 59-58, courtesy of two free throws by senior standout Anthony Booth with 5:47 to play. The two teams would go back-and-and forth the balance of the contest.

Columbiana used a trey from Zander Oliver to forge a 71-67 edge with 1:33 showing. Ferry senior Gavin Little countered with a bonus bucket before Columbiana missed a pair of free throws.

Purple Rider ace Elijah Smith then made his presence felt in impressive fashion.

The 6-3 junior goaled to give the hosts a 72-71 lead with 58 ticks showing. The Clippers misfired from the field on their ensuing possession before Smith meshed two free throws with 32.8 ticks left, giving the Purple a three-point edge.

Columbiana did not fold.

The Clippers’ Cooper Brown, who played exceptional all night, buried a trey, knotting the game at 74-all with 20 seconds to go. Edwards subsequently called a timeout. It proved beneficial.

Sophomore football star Walkquem Cox navigated his way to the hoop for a game-winning layup with 2.3 seconds left. Brown, however, threw a major scare into the Purple as his halfcourt shot at the buzzer rimmed out.

“Our problem and solution are the same – defense and rebounding,” Edward noted. “We didn’t play defense or rebound in the first half. We did both those things when our backs were against the wall.

“We came out so flat. We played with no energy in the first half,” he added. “But Columbiana is a good team. They have won 15 games and Brown is a very good player.”

Booth and Smith both came up big offensively for Ferry, evenly dividing 50 points. Smith also collared 11 rebounds. Little was fine support with 11 counters.

Brown led Columbiana with 20 points. Carter Johnson delivered 16 points for the Clippers while Oliver ended with 12 tallies.

“Jakori is a big reason we won this game,” Edwards said. “We fed off his energy. Jakori got us going.

“I was proud of our resolve and resiliency. We didn’t quit and we executed really well down the stretch,” added the former Ferry All-Ohio point guard. “I definitely didn’t like how things went for two-plus quarters. But the way it played out, it is a really nice win.”

Both teams committed 10 turnovers. Each team drained nine treys.

Ferry closes out regular-season play Tuesday, hosting Monroe Central.