Players from Madras and Crook County try to grab a rebound during the game on Friday night at Madras High School. 

Trailing 18 points in the first half should have sent Crook County coach Jason Mumm and the Cowboys’ players into a panic.

But the look that Mumm saw on his players’ faces and in their eyes during timeouts made it clear that they weren’t ready to lay down and admit defeat.

“There isn’t a single one that has any quit in them,” Mumm said. “They instill confidence in me to call a play and to stay the course.”

The Cowboys indeed stayed the course. Down nearly the entire game in Friday night’s Tri-Valley Conference boys basketball matchup between two top-six Class 4A teams, Crook County eked out a much needed 47-46 victory over Madras.

Junior guard Gabriel Lopez’s 3-pointer from the wing with just over two minutes remaining gave the Cowboys a 46-43 lead, their first since scoring the game’s opening basket.

Needing a stop to clinch the game in the final 15 seconds, junior guard Jace Jonas stole a pass, dribbled around multiple Madras defenders, then heaved the ball up-court to wilt away the clock and complete the stunning come-from-behind victory.

“It comes down to our grit and our toughness,” Jonas said. “Being down most of the game, we just really fought hard. We are a tough team; we just focused on that to come back.”

There was plenty at stake heading into the matchup between teams that were unbeaten in Tri-Valley Conference play.

The Cowboys and the White Buffaloes met three times last season. The two teams split their two Tri-Valley matchups a year ago, and in turn split the conference title. Crook County (12-6 overall, 4-0 TVC) and Madras (14-4, 3-1) then met in the 4A state tournament, where the White Buffaloes won the rubber match in the fourth/sixth-place game.

Getting the win in comeback-fashion in a stuffed Buffalo Dome, even when few things seemed to go the Cowboys’ way early on, was significant at the midway point of conference play.

“To come here and win on their floor is awesome,” said Crook County junior guard Jace Jonas, who finished with 15 points. “It is good knowing that we don’t have to play on our heels.”

For a stretch late in the first quarter and into the second, the White Buffaloes caught fire from beyond the 3-point arc. Junior wing Troy Adams came off the bench and drilled three 3-pointers in the first half and junior wing Angelo Perez Perez knocked down another to help Madras build a 27-9 lead.

But from there, Madras began to cool down from the field and ran into issues with Crook County’s press defense. Meanwhile, the shots that weren’t falling earlier, began to fall for the Cowboys.

“We have known from a young age that we hate to lose,” said junior post Bryce Lowenbach, who scored 15 on the night. “We know that if we trust our coaches and trust our teammates that things are going to turn around.”

And turn around they did. The 19-4 deficit they faced after the first quarter was trimmed down to 12 at halftime. With three minutes left in the third quarter, Lowenbach tied the game 29-29 with a pair of free throws.

For all the steps forward the Cowboys made to tie the game, they took a couple of steps back in the third quarter’s closing minutes. Madras ended the quarter on an 8-0 run, highlighted by Adams’ fourth three of the game that bounced around the rim before finally falling at the buzzer to give the Buffaloes a 37-29 lead going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was too much Lowenbach and Jonas. And senior forward Garrett Stefanek scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter to help the Cowboys outscore the White Buffaloes 18-9 in the final period.

Adams and senior post Reed Simmelink led the White Buffaloes with 12 points each, with Isaiah Rubio Moschetti adding six points.

Crook County has been no stranger to playing in games like Friday night. Its nonleague schedule prepared the Cowboys for matchups just like this. Including Friday’s game against Madras, the Cowboys have played five teams currently ranked in the top 10 in the 4A OSAA rankings, winning four of them.

They have also played five games against the top three Intermountain Conference teams, all ranked in the top eight of the 5A rankings. The Cowboys also got a win over La Salle (No. 10 in 5A).

“Our goal is to play really good teams and to have the mission of getting better every time we play, every time we practice,” Mumm said. “Yeah we have beat some good teams, but we are going to continue to play good teams the rest of the year. The second that we relax and be satisfied with beating a good team, the next good team is going to beat us.”