PB Showdown Day 1

Today's Schedule

Liberty Tech vs. North Pulaski, 4 p.m.

Soldan vs. Hillcrest, 5:30 p.m.

Poplar Bluff vs. Overton, 7 p.m.

Imagine Prep vs. Tupelo, 8:30 p.m.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The defending champion fell, a former champ advanced along with two newcomers Tuesday in the opening round of the 24th Poplar Bluff Showdown at Peters Gym.

Liberty Tech of Jackson, Tenn. had its run as two-time defending champ end with a 63-54 loss to Soldan of St. Louis. Hillcrest of Memphis, which won in 1993, also advanced with a win over North Pulaski, Ark., 67-55.

Tupelo, Miss., back after finishing sixth last year, held off newcomer Overton of Memphis, 80-72.

Poplar Bluff played in overtime for the second straight year, but this time the Mules lost, 45-41 to Imagine Prep of St. Louis.

"It's a great tournament to gauge ourselves to get ready for district play," Imagine coach Tony Irons said.

It was the second straight year in which Poplar Bluff played in overtime on opening night but the Mules, who were third last year, fell into the consolation bracket for the fifth time in the six years since winning the tournament for the only time in 2004.

The tournament continues at 4 p.m. Wednesday with the semifinals.

"I've been telling people we're in the Poplar Bluff (Showdown) and they're like 'ooh, that's really tough,'" Soldan coach Justin Tatum said. "That's what we need."

The Tigers, who finished third in Class 4 last season, edged out Liberty Tech, which played for a state title after winning the Showdown.

Soldan led 47-46 to start the fourth quarter and was up by a point with 3:17 left when the Tigers had two starters foul out within five seconds of each other.

Liberty Tech (10-2) didn't hit a field goal the rest of the way as Soldan (9-2) finished with a 10-2 run.

"It's my bench," Tatum said. "For some reason they stepped it up and they helped us out. I looked at them and guys had desire in their eyes and they wanted to come help us out.

"That's exactly what they did."

Two-time all-tournament selection Kendall Anthony scored 20 to lead the Crusaders. The senior who has signed with Richmond had six steals, five assists and five rebounds but the Tigers forced 25 turnovers.

Soldan scored 22 points off turnovers and held Tech to 25.9 percent shooting including 2 of 22 from 3-point range.

Tatum said his defensive specialist Jibreel Muhammad was running a 101-degree temperature.

"I told him his job is to get on everybody's nerves, make him work," Tatum added.

Pete Sanders led Soldan with 19 points and six assists while Randy Holmes added 12 points and eight rebounds.

There were 14 lead changes and two ties with Tech leading 19-18 after the first quarter and Soldan leading by five at halftime. The Tigers from St. Louis led 42-32 in the third quarter but the Crusaders finished with a 14-5 rally.

Liberty Tech is 7-3 at the Showdown, having won the last two titles and finishing fourth in 2007.

Hillcrest back for the first time since 2002 overcame a sluggish start to beat North Pulaski.

"Coming out of Christmas break always makes me nervous," Hillcrest coach Shelvie Rose III said.

"I knew it was going to get our legs. We were looking tired and sluggish in that first half and it definitely showed."

The Vikings (12-1) rallied from an early 10-2 deficit, scored the first eight points of the second half and rolled past the Falcons (4-7), who finished seventh last year.

Kerrell Davis, who has signed with Texas Southern, scored 24 points including three long 3-pointers to lead Hillcrest. Cordarius Lewis added 13 points while Darius McGoughy and Jermell Abrams each chipped in 11.

Braylong Spicer scored 20 to lead North Pulaski from near Little Rock. Dayshawn Watkins added 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Hillcrest led by as many as 16 but North Pulaski scored the next 11 points to cut the margin to 55-50 with three minutes left. The Vikings, who shot 51 percent from the field in the second half, answered with an eight-point run.

Another late rally was thwarted in the final game of the night.

Tupelo's 18-point lead in the second quarter was cut to one 1:45 left but the Golden Wave finished off Overton by sinking 8 of 9 free throws.

Deontaye Ewing scored 21 to lead Tupelo (12-2) to go with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Rashon Coleman hit 10 of 12 free throws for 16 points and nine rebounds while Shane Butler added 14 points and seven rebounds.

LaDarius Davis scored 22 points to go with eight rebounds and four blocks to lead Overton from Memphis. Darrius White added 15 points and five assists.

Tupelo jumped out to a 28-14 lead after one quarter and led by 15 at the start of the fourth. Overton put together a 25-11 run, cutting the margin to 72-71 on a 3-pointer by Davis. Coleman answered with two free throws and Tupelo didn't give up a field goal the rest of the way.

Liberty Tech 19 11 16 8 -- 54

Soldan 18 17 12 16 -- 63

TECH FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Anthony 5-13 9-10 5 5 20

Hill 1-8 2-2 3 2 5

Day 1-5 0-0 1 0 2

Barnette 5-19 1-4 12 0 11

Bobo 2-2 1-1 2 1 5

Yeates 1-3 0-0 4 2 2

Graham 1-2 0-3 1 0 2

Smith 3-7 1-1 5 1 7

Tucker 0-0 0-0 2 1 0

Totals 19-59 14-21 35 12 54

3-point goals: 2-22 (Anthony 1-4. Hill 1-5. Graham 0-1. Day 0-4. Barnette 0-8.) Turnovers: 25. Steals: 13 (Anthony 6. Barnette 4.) Blocks: 3 (Barnette 2.) Points off turnovers: 14. Second-chance points: 5. Total fouls: 24. Fouled out: Bobo.

SOLDAN FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Sanders 5-16 9-10 4 6 19

McRoberts 3-10 0-0 7 3 7

Holmes 4-8 4-4 8 1 12

Dlamini 1-4 0-2 2 2 2

Griffin 7-10 1-3 9 0 15

Craig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Booker 1-3 3-4 1 0 5

Muhammad 0-2 2-2 5 0 2

Shelton 0-1 1-2 0 0 1

Totals 21-54 20-27 37 12 63

3-point goals: 1-4 (McRoberts 1-2. Sanders 0-1. Dlamini 0-1.) Turnovers: 21. Steals: 12 (Griffin 3. Dlamini 3.) Blocks: 1 (McRoberts.) Points off turnovers: 22. Second-chance points: 11. Total fouls: 21. Fouled out: McRoberts. Holmes.

North Pulaski 16 15 4 20 -- 55

Hillcrest 7 24 15 21 -- 67

NPHS FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Barron 2-7 0-2 1 1 5

Watkins 4-12 0-0 9 6 10

Williams 1-7 0-0 7 0 2

Colson 1-6 0-2 7 2 2

Hollis 3-5 0-0 8 0 6

Davis 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Spicer 8-14 2-2 3 3 20

Simpkins 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Dixon 1-2 0-0 2 0 2

Williamson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Cross 2-7 2-2 2 2 8

Allen 0-3 0-0 4 0 0

Totals 22-64 4-8 43 14 55

3-point goals: 7-19 (Barron 1-1. Watkins 2-4. Davis 0-1. Spicer 2-5. Williams 0-2. Cross 2-6). Turnovers: 20. Steals: 6 (Barron 2. Watkins 2.) Blocks: 2 (Watkins. Spicer.) Points off turnovers: 9. Second-chance points: 6. Totals fouls: 15.

HHS FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Lewis 2-6 6-8 6 0 13

Abrams 5-12 0-0 5 0 11

Davis 9-14 3-4 1 2 24

McGoughy 4-6 2-4 4 1 11

Waters 2-3 1-2 3 1 5

Miller 1-7 1-1 3 2 3

KeaThreatt 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Reynolds 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Rias 0-2 0-0 5 0 0

Howell 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Totals 24-52 13-19 28 6 67

3-point goals: 6-18 (Miller 0-4. Lewis 1-1. Abrams 1-4. Davis 3-5. Threatt 0-1. McGoughy 1-3.) Turnovers: 14. Steals: 10 (Davis 4). Blocks: 7 (Waters 6.) Points off turnovers: 27. Second-chance points: 5. Total fouls: 8.

Imagine Prep 5 10 11 12 7 -- 45

Poplar Bluff 14 11 8 5 3 -- 41

IPHS FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Clark 3-10 0-1 3 2 8

Payne 3-10 6-8 5 2 14

Johnson 0-3 2-2 2 0 2

Jones 2-7 0-2 15 2 4

Dillard 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Herndon 2-6 1-1 0 1 9

Coleman 1-1 0-2 2 0 2

Davis 2-3 2-2 3 0 6

Taylor 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 14-40 11-18 30 7 45

3-point goals: 6-17 (Clark 2-6. Herndon 2-3. Payne 2-7. Johnson 0-1.) Turnovers 21. Steals: 10 (Payne 4.) Blocks: 1 (Johnson). Points off turnovers: 14. Second-chance points: 8. Total fouls: 16. Fouled out: Johnson.

PBHS FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Patterson 2-4 0-0 1 2 4

Bloodworth 1-1 0-0 3 0 2

Anders 3-12 3-3 9 1 10

Shrum 0-2 1-2 4 0 1

White 5-13 0-0 4 0 14

Griffith 0-1 0-0 0 1 0

Griggs 1-6 0-0 1 3 2

McCain 3-5 2-3 0 2 8

Rathbun 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Totals 15-44 5-21 23 9 41

3-point goals: 5-21 (White 4-8. Anders 1-6. Griggs 0-4. McCain 0-1. Patterson 0-2.) Turnovers: 18. Steals: 10 (Griffith 2. Patterson 2. White 2.) Blocks 1 (White). Points off turnovers: 17. Second-chance points: 5. Total fouls: 16.

Overton 14 18 14 26 -- 72

Tupelo 28 17 16 19 -- 80

OHS FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

White 4-14 3-4 2 5 15

DeVine 4-19 1-2 3 3 11

Fox 5-9 0-0 7 2 10

Wilson 3-3 0-0 5 0 6

Davis 7-13 6-6 8 1 22

DColeman 0-0 0-0 1 1 0

Cleveland 2-4 0-0 0 0 5

JWilliams 0-0 0-0 2 2 0

AWilliams 1-2 0-0 0 0 3

Brewster 0-3 0-0 3 1 0

Jennings 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

LColeman 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Flagg 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Townsend 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 26-67 10-12 32 17 72

3-point goals: 10-32 (White 4-12. Cleveland 1-3. AWilliams 1-2. Brewster 0-2. DeVine 2-10. Davis 2-3.) Turnovers 11. Steals: 7 (Brewster 2.) Blocks 6 (Davis 4.) Points off turnovers: 13. Second-chance points: 15. Total fouls: 25. Fouled out: Fox.

THS FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Coleman 2-11 10-12 9 2 16

Brooks 3-8 1-2 5 1 7

Ewing 9-19 2-4 7 4 21

Butler 4-8 5-8 7 1 14

Wilson 0-3 2-2 4 1 2

Jones 0-0 1-2 0 0 1

Reno 4-7 0-0 2 0 10

Hamilton 3-4 1-1 4 0 7

Foster 1-1 0-0 2 0 2

Totals 26-61 22-31 40 9 80

3-point goals: 6-15 (Coleman 2-5. Reno 2-3. Brooks 0-1. Ewing 1-3. Butler 1-3.) Turnovers 13. Steals: 6 (Ewing 4.) Blocks: 3 (Brooks.Hamilton. Ewing.) Points off turnovers: 20. Second-chance points: 20. Total fouls: 12.