Buckhorn’s Caleb Holt is arguably the best high school basketball player in the state and definitely one of the most confident.

Trailing by double digits at halftime, the 6-foot-6 sophomore guard lingered into the locker room after hitting a last-second 3-pointer and spoke only two words to his teammates.

“We’re good.”

And they believed.

The top-ranked Bucks, who trailed by 12 at the half, powered ahead to a 61-51 victory over No. 4 Clay-Chalkville in Thursday’s Class 6A Northwest Regional boys semifinal at Wallace State’s Traditions Bank Arena in Hanceville.

“Not the start we were looking for,” Buckhorn coach Patrick Harding said. “They (Clay-Chalkville) came out, punched us in the mouth early and shot it really well. We didn’t do a great job of finding their shooters early and they played a zone that we haven’t seen them play all year and that really hurt our rhythm. At halftime, our coaches and players did a great job of calming down and that’s pretty underrated.”

Buckhorn (26-5) scored on its opening possession, but the Cougars soon took control with a 5-0 spurt from Devon McKinnon and an 8-0 closing run to grab a 16-7 lead heading into the second period. Both Kevin Kirk Jr. and Victor Odiari converted and-1 opportunities and McKinnon nailed a 3-point dagger at the buzzer.

The Bucks cut the lead back down to 7 almost midway through the second period, following an exchange of 3-pointers from Odiari and Frederick Derrick, but Clay-Chalkville pulled ahead on an 11-0 run to take a 32-14 lead with 1:17 left in the first half. McKinnon knocked down consecutive 3-pointers during the run, the last of which drew a foul that he converted into a 4-point play.

Joshua Wilkerson snapped a 4:56 scoring drought by the Bucks on a 3-pointer inside the final minute of the half and Holt followed with his own on the final Buckhorn possession, trimming the lead to 32-20 entering the halftime break.

Holt and Austen Childress sparked the Bucks to open the second half, scoring on consecutive trips down the floor to cut the lead below double digits, and the former and Derrick combined for a pair of free throws each to bring the advantage down to 6 points.

Following a 3-pointer from Odiari at the 6:11 mark of the third period, which pushed the Cougar lead back up to 9 points, Holt jumpstarted a 9-0 run that included three pairs of free throws and Derrick converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to completely erase the halftime deficit and tie it at 37-all with 2:36 left in the quarter.

Kirk and Aces Kennedy scored in the final two minutes to keep pace with Buckhorn, but Holt broke a 41-all tie inside the final 30 seconds of the period to give the Bucks a slim lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We made a few changes to our zone offense and got great looks,” Harding said.

Clay-Chalkville (23-9) retook the lead twice early in the fourth quarter, the last time on a 3-pointer from McKinnon, but did not score the remaining 3:56 of the game as the Bucks closed out on an 11-0 run to prevent the upset.

Derrick put Buckhorn back on top for good with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, after the Cougars had taken their final lead, Jeremiah Wilson, who scored 9 points in the quarter, punctuated the victory with a game-sealing fast-break dunk inside the final minute.

Did you know? Buckhorn advances to its second straight regional final and seeks to repeat as state champions. The Bucks have won four titles in program history (1960, 1991, 1995 and 2023) while Clay-Chalkville misses out on its second-ever regional final appearance.

By the numbers: The Bucks shot 46.3 percent overall and went 5-of-18 from 3-point range and 18-of-24 at the foul line. They held a plus-4 edge in rebounding and held the Cougars scoreless in the final 3:56 of the game. Clay-Chalkville was 40 percent from the field and 53.3 percent on 3-pointers but gave up 17 turnovers that resulted in 24 points.

Stat sheet: Buckhorn – Holt produced a double-double on both a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, adding 2 assists and 2 steals, and Derrick finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Wilson had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, and Joshua Wilkerson and Deven Chapman combined for 9 points and 5 rebounds. Clay-Chalkville – McKinnon led the Cougars with 20 points, followed by Odiari with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Kirk added 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and Aces Kennedy contributed 6 points. Austin Ray had only 4 points, but led the team with 7 rebounds.

Coachspeak: “The game flipped in the third quarter. We made a couple of shots, we were able to get in our press and Jordan Lindsey comes off the bench and is a secret weapon (on defense). The kid can just lock up a ball-handler and I’m just now learning how to use him myself. He gave us a lot of momentum in the third quarter.” – Buckhorn’s Patrick Harding

“We knew it was a tough task at hand when we came in. We felt like we had a good game plan and the guys felt confident, but in that second half, experience set in and we folded. These guys fought all year, would run through a brick wall for me, and I’m hurt because they didn’t achieve what they wanted. It’s going to hurt, but there are a lot of life lessons to be learned.” – Clay-Chalkville’s Chris Richardson

They said it: “We’ve been in this position before and were confident going into the half. We had some momentum going in, we’re usually always up (at halftime), and the confidence was different.” – Caleb Holt

“We’ve played through adversity before and didn’t feel any pressure coming out. We made a few shots and got in front of our man.” – Frederick Derrick

What’s next? Buckhorn advances to face No. 7 Cullman in Tuesday’s Northwest Regional final at Wallace State’s Traditions Bank Arena.