BENTON — Having just watched their team get dissected, some Porters Chapel fans buried their heads in their hands at halftime, not quite believing what they had just seen.

When the game was over, they had the same reaction — but for a very different reason.

PCA stormed back from a 15-point halftime deficit to beat top-seeded Tri-County 64-56 in overtime Monday in the first round of the MAIS Class A state tournament. It’s only the second boys’ state tournament win in school history, and it might take another hundred to get one as memorable.

The Eagles held Tri-County (22-4) without a field goal in overtime and outscored the Rebels 47-24 in the second half and overtime. PCA (15-9) advanced to face the winner of tonight’s game between Riverdale and Desoto School at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Benton Academy.

“I don’t know much about the teams we’re playing from here on. But it doesn’t matter who we play, if we play like that. Win or lose, we can’t ask for anything better,” PCA coach E.J. Creel said. “Lose the next game, and these kids will always remember this. I will always remember this.”

PCA fell behind by as many as 18 points in the first half thanks to a dreadful second quarter. Struggling against Tri-County’s press, the Eagles went 2-for-13 from the field and committed six turnovers. They trudged off the court down 32-17 at the break, but immediately pulled a 180 as the third quarter opened.

Kawayne Gaston dropped in a pair of shots during a 6-0 spurt that got the deficit back to single digits less than two minutes in. Using a steady and effective half-court offense, they continued to chip away through the third quarter and finally got it to 44-42 on Matthew Warren’s 3-pointer a minute into the fourth.

“We just said slow it down, swing the ball and see what they could do. We figured out in the first half that that was their weakness. When we swung it they couldn’t handle it,” said Gaston, who led PCA with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Tri-County managed to stay just out of reach of the Eagles for much of the fourth quarter. PCA got within two points on three separate occasions and tied it twice more before a fortuitous bounce gave them a third tie. With just under a minute to play, a loose ball under the goal bounced off the leg of center Talbot Buys to teammate Ted Brisco, who put it in the goal to knot the score at 53.

Tri-County held for the last shot, but ultimately settled for a 40-foot 3-point try by Lane Williams that was well off the mark.

With momentum squarely on their side, the Eagles soon seized control. Brisco hit a 3-pointer off the opening tip in overtime to give them their first lead since early in the first quarter, and they never trailed again. Tri-County managed only three free throws by Derek Martin in the extra period and was outscored 11-3.

“I knew we had a chance because momentum was going our way,” said Warren, who finished with eight points. “I knew once we got the lead, that was it.”

The collapse by Tri-County, the North Central tournament champion, was stunning. It hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, then went 2-for-18 from long range the rest of the game. After shooting a respectable 40.6 percent in the first half, the Rebels went 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) in the third and fourth quarters and 0-for-9 in overtime.

On the flip side, PCA played one of its best halves of the season.

Brisco scored 15 points for PCA — 13 in the second half and overtime — and Buys had 13 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The Eagles, whose shooting percentage hovered in the low 30s each of their last three games, were a blistering 59.4 percent (19-for-32) in the second half and overtime.