FARMINGTON, Mo. — It doesn’t seem to matter who steps on the floor with Charleston, eventually they're broken down by the Bluejays’ lightning-quick pace and relentless defense.

This proved true again in the MSHSAA Class 3 quarterfinal as third-ranked Charleston defeated Bishop DuBourg 74-61 on Saturday, March 5, at the Farmington Community Civic Center to return to the Final Four for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

“We call it that ‘Bluejay defense’ and we take a lot of pride in it,” said Charleston head coach Jamarcus Williams. “I knew it would be a physical game and our plan going into it was to play 84 feet of defense. We wanted to wear on their players and make their fatigue cause some mistakes. I knew I had guys to rotate and it went how I thought it was going to go.”

PJ Farmer elevates over a defender during Charleston's 74-61 win over Bishop DuBourg in a Class 3 quarterfinal at the Farmington Community Civic Center on Saturday, March 5. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Both teams played with a lot of intensity and determination from the opening tip. Rico Coleman scored the first points of the game after he made a steal and threw down a dunk. Bishop DuBourg took its first lead 8-6 with about two minutes remaining in the first quarter after 6-foot-7-inch Dampier Evans scored in the post on back-to-back possessions. PJ Farmer immediately answered with a long jumper to tie it with about a minute to go, and the Bluejays led 10-8 at the end of the quarter after Ko’Terrion Owens scored in the paint with 1.1 seconds left.

“We came out strong, followed coaches’ gameplan and executed,” said Charleston senior Ben Bledsoe. “We have been playing against size all year, and this was no different for us. We came in and did what we always do; used our speed and athleticism to our advantage.”

Owens hit a free throw to start the second quarter and Fletravion Stanback and Almareion Williams each scored in transition after the Bluejay defense forced turnovers to push the lead to 15-8.

Ben Bledsoe sets a screen for Fletravion Stanback during Charleston's 74-61 win over Bishop DuBourg in a Class 3 quarterfinal at the Farmington Community Civic Center on Saturday, March 5. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“Not a lot of teams can handle our press,” Bledsoe added.

Dampier’s height continued to present some problems as he carried the load for the Cavaliers on offense. He scored in the paint, but Farmer knocked down an elbow jumper and then scored an easy fastbreak basket after Almareion Williams picked off a pass and found him ahead of the pack. Dampier narrowed it to 19-12 will a strong take, but Owens countered with a putback on the other end.

“We missed some dunks and other easy buckets early on,” Jamarcus Williams said. “I attribute that to their size. We also started a little jittery and nervous. I could see it in my guys on the court, but once we got settled, the game took shape the way I hoping it would.”

Rico Coleman and Almareion Williams trap Eddie Weekly III during Charleston's 74-61 win over Bishop DuBourg in a Class 3 quarterfinal at the Farmington Community Civic Center on Saturday, March 5. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Dampier tried to get the momentum going in Bishop DuBourg's favor with a jam, but Charleston quickly closed the door on that with an 11-1 run to increase its lead to 32-15 with less than three minutes left in the half. The run included 3-pointers from Almareion Williams and Farmer and two dazzling slams from Coleman. The Cavaliers narrowed the lead to 34-22 at halftime after Lemond Shaw nailed a half-court shot at the buzzer.

“We were able to create that separation from their fatigue,” Jamarcus Williams said. “The defense got us going with some easy buckets. Then we started moving fast like we like to do and we were able to put some shots in.”

The teams were deadlocked in the third quarter as each squad scored 12 and came out of halftime with renewed energy and focus. Bishop DuBourg got within single digits after Shaw hit a short jumper midway through, but Charleston extended it to 46-34 at the end of the quarter after Stanback buried a baseline jumper in the final minute.

Rico Coleman finishes a heavily-contested shot at the rim during Charleston's 74-61 win over Bishop DuBourg in a Class 3 quarterfinal at the Farmington Community Civic Center on Saturday, March 5. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“I was hoping we would extend it a little bit more, but we did not,” Jamarcus Williams said of his team’s third-quarter performance. “[Bishop DuBourg] came out more aggressive. They were making shots and ran their offense. We did not respond the way we wanted to, but we did enough to keep that separation.”

Coleman picked up two early fouls which led to him playing limited minutes, but the 6-5 junior forward made a big impact in the closing quarter, where he scored 14 of his 20 points. Coleman started the quarter with a putback. Less than a minute later he converted a three-point play after finishing through contact. Then he banged home another dunk and converted another three-point play to make it 58-43 with 4:26 remaining in the game.

“Rico [Coleman] is the man,” Jamarcus Williams said. “Even whenever he doesn’t score 20 points, he’s still filling up the stats sheet in other areas and making a major impact on the game. It’s great to have a player who’s capable of doing those types of things in these types of moments.”

Larry Horton goes up over a defender during Charleston's 74-61 win over Bishop DuBourg in a Class 3 quarterfinal at the Farmington Community Civic Center on Saturday, March 5. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

The Cavaliers had some bright moments down the final stretch, but every time they started to heat up, the Bluejays were there to briskly cool them down. Farmer and Coleman each made demoralizing putbacks and clutch free throws, and Stanback put the nail in the coffin when he converted a three-point play with less than two minutes remaining.

Farmer, a freshman, led Charleston in scoring for the third consecutive postseason game. He finished with a game-high 22 and added six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Coleman had a game-high 10 rebounds, four steals and two rejections in addition to his 20 points. Almareion Williams, Stanback and Owens each finished with nine points. Almareion Williams also had five steals, four rebounds and two assists; Stanback had four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block and Owens had nine rebounds, two steals and two assists. Owen, who stands at just 6-2, did a great job rebounding and playing in the paint against some much taller defenders.

“I love what [Owens] brings to the team,” Jamarcus Williams said. “He’s one of those players who can play inside or outside. He was a guard when he was younger, so he has those skills. He can score around the rim with either hand. He also has good footwork and knows how to move with the ball, when to get rid of it and when to attack.”

Bishop DuBourg played with a lot of desire and emotion. Not only did the Cavaliers have a lot of size, but the team was also extremely gifted athletically, and played admirably on defense, holding the Bluejays to 42 percent (30-of-72) from the field and 2-of-13 from behind the arc.

“We competed hard,” said Bishop DuBourg head coach Darian Head. “We battled for 32 minutes, but we just didn’t hit shots. Their pressure sped us up at times, but we had some wide-open looks that we didn’t knock down today.”

It was also one of the rare occasions where Charleston (15) had more turnovers than its opponent (13), however, the Bluejays made up for that minor shortcoming with a 32-26 rebounding edge and a 44-40 points in the paint advantage.

Charleston will play Duchesne (15-16) at 4 p.m., in a Class 3 semifinal on Thursday, March 10, at the JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo.

The Pioneers defeated second-ranked Monroe City (22-5) in the sectional and Cole Camp (17-11) in the quarterfinal. Duchesne’s top scorers are Drew Moore and Ryan Tune, who average 14.2 and 13.5 points per game, respectively. Moore is also the team’s leading rebounder, hauling in 8.1 boards per contest.

“It’s going to take focus, hard work, defense and a little bit of luck,” Jamarcus Williams said when asked what it will take for Charleston to win its next two games and claim its first state championship since 2012.

Top-ranked Thayer (28-1) takes on fourth-ranked Lafayette County (29-1) in the other semifinal game.

Bishop DuBourg 8 14 12 27 - 61

Charleston 10 24 12 28 - 74

BISHOP DUBOURG (61) - Dampier Evans 21, Lemond Shaw 16, Eddie Weekly III 9, Connor Gagen 5, Christian Newcombe 4, Jalen Davis 3, Kevin Henson 2, Pedro Alvarez 1. FG 23. FT 14-23. F 20. (3-pointers: Shaw 1. Fouled out: Weekly.)

CHARLESTON (74) - PJ Farmer 22, Rico Coleman 20, Almareion Williams 9, Fletravion Stanback 9, Ko’Terrion Owens 9, Ben Bledsoe 2, Roylandus Wiley 2, Dontrez Ewing 1. FG 30. FT 12-20. F 18. (3-pointers: Williams 1, Farmer 1. Fouled out: none.)