HOLCOMB, Mo. -- For the second time this season, the Bernie Mules met the Campbell Camels, and all those in attendance saw a quality high school basketball game.

However this one had a lot more riding on it as this time a spot in the 2A district finals was on the line. And just like earlier this year, it was the Bernie Mules who were still standing when the smoke cleared.

"I told our kids that Campbell is extremely athletic and we had to avoid looking ahead. They are very physical and they really brought it tonight, they always do," said Bernie coach Brad Botsch.

It was a back and forth battle in the opening quarter as both teams attempted to impose their will on the other with Bernie trying to play their high speed uptempo style, while Campbell attempted to slow the game down and grind it out with strong inside play. Junior Zach Curry came up big for Bernie in the frame with 10 points, leading the Mules to a 16-13 after one period.

The Mules were able to pull away a bit in the second quarter as free throw shooting became huge. Twelve of the Mules 20 second-quarter points came from the charity stripe as they went on to shoot 26-for-36 on the night from the line. After a pair of Silas Dill baskets as the clock wound down, Bernie took a 36-26 advantage into the half.

Exhibiting a trademark of Campbell coach Steve Fowler, the Camels came out of the locker room and scratched, clawed and hustled their way back into the game, using a balanced attack and a Sledge Crawley 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer cut the Bernie lead to 51-45 going into the final quarter.

In the opening minutes of quarter No. 4, senior Jake Tinnon stepped up big for Campbell with a pair of layups and a 3. After an Andrew Pearson bucket, the Mule's lead had been cut to one at 58-57. However, coming out of a Botsch timeout, the Mules closed out the game with a 15-3 run as they finished the job by knocking down seven of their eight free throws in the final quarter.

The Bernie victory earned them a spot in the finals against top seeded Hayti on Friday night.

"We will probably be up most of the night studying tape of Hayti," Botsch said of Friday's matchup. "We're know their very athletic and we will have our hands full. We have really been working hard, we've been staying late in afternoon practice and coming in early before school to shoot. Hopefully that will pay off for us."

The Bernie offense was paced by Curry with 21 points while Dill pumped in 16 and Trevor McGowan added 10.

Cale Weeks led Campbell with 17 points while Jordan Baggett and Jake Tinnon added 11 apiece in their final games as Campbell Camels.