Lady Mules 47, Jackson 36

Poplar Bluff led 26-24 at halftime and pulled away by holding Jackson to 12 second-half points and committing just two turnovers.

Ruthie Johnson scored 11 points and Natalie Stonecipher added 10 for Poplar Bluff. Tori Williams scored eight points to go with 11 rebounds.

Jackson was led by Ashten Howard's 13 points, 10 coming in the first half, but lost junior Kaylen Knepp to a knee injury early in the third quarter.

A night after the Mules used a 4-minute possession to bring Cape Central out of a zone defense, the Lady Mules opened the second half with a possession that lasted just under 3 minutes for the same reason.

Poplar Bluff coach Kirk Chronister used the famed Four Corners offense in the second half after the Lady Mules scored on fast breaks and drives to the bucket in the first half.

"I ran that back in the '80s when Dean Smith and everybody else was running it," Chronister said of the Four Corners offense. "I thought we've got the personnel (and) this would be awfully good for us to run right now."

It worked. The Lady Indians came out of their matchup zone and the Lady Mules scored the final four points of the third quarter for a 35-28 lead. A putback by Williams and four straight points by Stonecipher gave Poplar Bluff a 41-31 lead with 3:56 left.

Six of Poplar Bluff's points during the 10-3 run came off turnovers.