Cleburne found itself trailing last-place Joshua by 19 points in the third quarter, unsure of how things were playing out elsewhere in District 9-5A in a tight playoff picture. Late in the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets began their comeback as they went on to claim a 55-49 win over the Owls on Tuesday to clinch their second consecutive postseason berth. Joshua (2-12) held a 39-20 lead with 4:57 left in the third quarter, then the Jackets (22-11, 8-6) seemingly woke up and out-scored Joshua, 35-10, the rest of the way. “To the credit of the kids, for the first time we just weren't going to get beat,” Cleburne Coach Kurt White said. “And that's the kind of attitude I've been trying to instill in Cleburne High School basketball — we're taking the floor and we're going to win. I really felt like that in the second half. “I told them in the third, 'I see something in your eyes, it's fixing to happen.' You could tell. I'm extremely proud of them. That game puts us in the playoffs for the second consecutive year and we just keep building on our program.” At 8-6 in district play, Cleburne finished the regular season tied for second place with Burleson Centennial and Crowley. But the Jackets will be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs after owning the three-way tiebreaker with a 3-1 record against the Spartans and Eagles. Crowley will be seeded third (2-2) and Centennial fourth (1-3). Cleburne is set to play Midlothian in the Class 5A bidistrict playoffs at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Mansfield High School. Cleburne trimmed the 19-point deficit down to 11 points by the end of the third quarter, making things manageable in the final 8 minutes of play. The Jackets opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to cut the lead down to one point after a Chris Arthurs free throw with 2:48 remaining. After Joshua reestablished a two-possession advantage, Cleburne's Addison Wallace hit a pair of free throws, then Wallace scored on a putback with 1:04 left to tie the game at 49-49. Following a Joshua miss, Wallace hit 1-of-2 free throws for a 50-49 lead, Cleburne's first since it was 5-3. On the Owls' ensuing possession, Cleburne's Da'Quan Cius came away with a steal and he hit 1-of-2 free throws for a 51-49 advantage with 28 seconds left. After a time-out, Joshua drove the lane and Cleburne's Garrett Wilson slid over and drew a charge with 12 seconds remaining to regain possession. Wilson then sunk two free throws to seal the deal. “That was huge,” White said. “That gave us the ball back and we scored again. But once again, that's what you're supposed to do. That's your job is to get between them and the basket. Defense is real simple: get in the way and cause something to happen. And Garrett did that. He picked up a charge and it was a big one.” Joshua turned the ball over 12 times in the fourth quarter alone as the Owls scored only five points in the final frame. The Owls used a 14-0 run from late in the first quarter to midway through the second quarter to turn a 10-9 lead into a 24-9 lead. Joshua remained comfortably ahead from there, including a 32-16 halftime lead, before Cleburne started its comeback late in the third. The Jackets received yet another strong performance from Wallace, who missed practice Monday and was unsure if he'd be able to play Tuesday because he was sick. The New Mexico State University signee accounted for 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. He scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half. “Addison did not practice Monday and we weren't sure if he'd be able to play until about 4 o'clock [Tuesday] because he's sick,” White said. “That concerned me about how much he played. In fact, at one point in the game when we were down 19, I was about to pull him and say we've got bigger fish to fry later. Thank goodness I didn't. “He had a point to prove. He didn't have a very good game the last time we played Joshua. Addison is a very prideful athlete. It means something to him that he wants to be the best. And he was the best on the floor tonight, by far. That's his character and standard of play.” Cius and Wilson each added 10 big points for the Jackets with Cius also chipping in three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Arthurs added nine points and four rebounds. Joshua junior Michael Ayars led the Owls with 17 points while Will Boyd added 12 points. Joshua out-shot Cleburne from the floor, 44 percent to 40 percent, but the Jackets were 23-of-29 at the foul line and Cleburne committed four fewer turnovers.