Nixa, Mo. — If perimeter shots are your thing, Tuesday's clash between Kickapoo (9-3) and Nixa (8-8) represented basketball nirvana.

The Chiefs survived a last-second shot attempt to preserve a 63-61 victory in a contest that featured a whopping 26 3-pointers from both teams.

Kickapoo's Micah McIntire connected on eight long balls — five in the final quarter, alone — to score a game-high 24 points.

The 6-foot-1 junior was quick to credit teammates for creating repeated shot opportunities.

"I think my teammates just worked really hard to put me in the right positions," McIntire said. "And I think we got moving the ball really well attacking gaps. Once I started hitting a few, then it just started to feel like I couldn't miss. I just started feeling good."

While McIntire's late storm helped seal the win for Kickapoo — along with 16 3-pointers as a team — the Chiefs trailed for a majority of the game,

Nixa juniors Ace Akers and Evann Long connected on back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first to give the Eagles a 19-13 lead and plenty of momentum heading into the second quarter.

From there, Nixa would stretch its lead to as many as nine.

Midway through the third quarter, a 3-pointer from sophomore Kaleb Wofford completed a 5-0 run to put the Eagles up 39-30.

Kickapoo head coach Mitch McHenry talked about his team having to dig itself out of a hole after slow starts in both halves.

"Unfortunately, we've been in that situation a little bit too much this year where we either don't start very well or get down at some point," McHenry said, "So, I think it goes towards our maturity and our togetherness to persevere and fight through a deficit but, at some point, we're going to have to start games better, and we can't we can't continue to play out of a hole."

Fortunately for Kickapoo, its perimeter game hit another gear late in the third, as McIntire, Anton Brookshire and Cameron Liggans all found range from beyond the arc.

A 16-5 run to end the quarter put the Chiefs up 46-44.

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Kickapoo 14 14 18 17 — 63
Nixa 19 15 10 17 — 61

Kickapoo scoring: Micah McIntire – 24, Anton Brookshire – 16, Tanner Oetting – 6, Cross Elmquist – 6, Cameron Liggans – 4, Elijah Bridgers – 3, David Senn – 2, Luke Rebmann – 2

Nixa scoring: Kaleb Wofford – 24, Luke Roemen – 11, Evann Long – 8, Ace Akers – 7, Isaiah Engleman – 6, Brandon Gordon – 3, Jason Jones – 2