Poplar Bluff

Poplar Bluff got its full team back just in time for senior night. Since the Christmas break, a combination of injuries, illnesses, and even a random softball injury, have kept Poplar Bluff coach Beth Lewis-Muse shuffling the lineup every meet. “We finally had a healthy team today,” Lewis-Muse said. “I think hopefully we are over all this sickness, extra trips, injuries, I think we’re back. It took a little bit.”...

FARMINGTON, Mo. — Six Sikeston wrestlers medaled at the SEMO Conference meet over the weekend. At 138 pounds, Josh Rishton defeated Jackson’s Dawson Tyler to earn third-place. Rishton won by decision, 4-1. Quincy Nelson finished in fourth place, at 145 pounds, as he lost a decisive bout to Farmington’s Schmuke Branch, 3-1...

FARMINGTON - Poplar Bluff senior Kendrick Gordon had the best tournament of his career to win the SEMO Conference Tournament on Saturday. Gordon won the heavyweight division as the Mules finished fourth overall. "Had a fantastic tournemant, the best version of him we've seen this year. Not only won it but dominated everyone he wrestled. He found a new level this weekend so we are super excited for him...

CAPE GIRARDEAU - In the 21-team City of Roses Invitational, Poplar Bluff finished 14th with 60 points. The Mules' best finish was in the 50-yard freestyle. Paige Bradley finished second in 25.65 seconds behind Notre Dame's Carly Pujol, who won in 25.47. Bradley was 0.16 seconds shy of an automatic but time for state. She also finished eighth in the 1-meter dive with 309.50 points. Payton Moore was just behind her in ninth with 307.20 points...

Paul Duncan drained 23 points as the Woodland boys basketball team picked up a 76-68 conference victory over Bloomfield in a game that saw 70 attempts at the free-throw line on Friday in Marble Hill, Missouri. Karson Skinner pitched in 16 points for the Cardinals (8-7, 2-2 SCAA Conference), who held an eight-point lead at halftime. Jamon Frymire finished with 13 points before fouling out...

In the span of 10 minutes, a close game turned into a blowout. After back and forth action early, Poplar Bluff closed the final 11 minutes of the first half with a 31-4 run against Sikeston and went on to win 64-42 on Thursday at the Senior High Gym in Poplar Bluff...

For a half, the Jackson boys basketball team hung with Poplar Bluff. Then the third quarter started, and suddenly the Indians had no answer. The Mules scored 24 of the first 25 points to start the second half, turning a close affair into a blowout. By the time the period ended, a two-point lead had turned into an insurmountable 17-point deficit...

Literally from start to finish, the races were neck and neck. From the first race to the final finish, Tuesday’s meet between Poplar Bluff, Notre Dame and Saxony Lutheran was consistently marked by close finishes, and in one instance, a tie. Poplar Bluff still managed to come away with a win with 139 points despite missing three key swimmers...

Poplar Bluff’s weekend tournament got snowed out and canceled. It turned out to be a good thing. The extra time off, ultimately 10 days between meets for the Mules, allowed Poplar Bluff to heal up, and it allowed Garret McClure to get his 100th career win Tuesday at home...

Poplar Bluff Mules coach William Durden was playing NBA 2K19 with one of his players. Very quickly he went from being up eight points to down 12. Durden blames the 20-point swing on his controller. The batteries in the back kept getting loose, turning off the controller, disabling whatever player Durden was controlling and basically allowing his opponent a free basket...

SEDALIA, Mo. - After going 1 for 3 at the foul line in the first half, Poplar Bluff was 13 for 19 in the second to pull away from Granite City (Ill.). The Mules won 60-52 in the opening round of the McDonald's Classic on Thursday in Sedalia. Poplar Bluff (11-2) will face Rock Bridge (9-2), ranked fifth in the state in Class 5, in the semifinals Friday at 7:30 p.m...

The Zizzers zapped Poplar Bluff’s offense with a zipped-up, suffocating press Thursday night, forcing 31 turnovers as state-ranked West Plains zipped past the Mules 65-38 at the Senior High Gym. West Plains (9-7), ranked No. 10 in Class 4 of the latest Missouri coaches poll, pulled away at the end of the first quarter and built an 18-point halftime advantage by scoring 16 points off turnovers...

Jack Below poured in 17 points as the Advance boys basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 58-51 road win over Chaffee on Tuesday. Hunter Curtis netted 16 points, all from behind the arc, for the Hornets (5-7), who had a two-point lead at the break...

Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau Central tied. And both coaches were happy about it. The Mules and Tigers both finished with 129 points on Tuesday at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff. Pocahontas, Ark., also competed and finished with 23 points. "Cape is an outstanding swim program and it's always a challenge to compete with them, and at this moment of the season, we needed that. ...

HIGHLAND, Ill. - Poplar Bluff was giving up plenty of size to Highland (Ill.), but it didn't matter. Poplar Bluff coach Will Durden estimated the Mules grabbed 20 extra rebounds despite facing a team with a 6-foot, 8-inch forward, and two more who measured 6-5 and 6-4...

WILDWOOD, Mo. - At one of their most difficult tournaments of the season, Poplar Bluff's lone championship went to someone who hadn't wrestled before this season. Braelin Aldridge, in MSHSAA's newly created girls wrestling division, won the 131-pound division with a pin in the first round...

It was a company line as Poplar Bluff struggled through the first half of the season. “Winning games by 20 points won’t make us better.” The Lady Mules loaded the November and December calendar with tough games against big schools to challenge themselves and improve … and went 2-9...

The Mules defended their Poplar Bluff Showdown title just as they earned it last year -- with a comeback win over Jonesboro on Saturday night. Down eight, Poplar Bluff scored nine points over the final 108 seconds to win 69-68 at a pack Senior High Gym...

POPLAR BLUFF — Poplar Bluff's Achilles Heel stayed strong Friday. Prior to the season, Mules coach William Durden said free throws were something they needed to improve upon, that it cost them several games last season. The stat line has been up and down this year and with a four-point lead with a minute remaining, Poplar Bluff needed to make its free throws down the stretch to beat Fayetteville...

Poplar Bluff has been in this situation a few times this year. They were in this situation in the Poplar Bluff Showdown championship game last year. And just before, a gritty group rallied for a close win. The Mules trailed by four points with 1:25 left in the game and Memphis Central trying to kill the clock. Poplar Bluff only put Memphis on the line once late while forcing several turnovers to win 63-58 in the opening round of the 32nd Poplar Bluff Showdown...

Last year, the Mules entered the Poplar Bluff Showdown optimistic with a 4-4 record and won their third title after a late rally against defending champion Jonesboro (Ark.). This year Poplar Bluff (6-1) is better, and once again, optimistic entering the 32nd Poplar Bluff Showdown...

The Jackson wrestling team wasn't at full strength heading into the Cape Central Tiger Classic, down four of its top wrestlers. It didn't matter. The Indians showcased their depth in a dominant team victory. Behind five individual first-place finishers, Jackson claimed its first Tiger Classic championship since 2015. The Indians finished 68.5 points ahead of the second-place team, Christian County from Kentucky. For comparison, 68.5 points separated Christian County from fifth-place Sikeston...

JACKSON — The Mules suffered two slow starts and two injured starters, but still came away with two wins. Poplar Bluff beat Lutheran South 73-61 on Friday then Vianney 63-49 on Saturday and has now won three in a row. Both games were at Jackson. “We just got out to a slow start both nights,” Poplar Bluff coach William Durden said. “The other teams played well. We were playing pretty good defensively, we were just really flat on offense.”...

CAPE GIRARDEAU — Kendric Gordon narrowly missed winning Poplar Bluff’s only individual championship at the Tiger Classic. Gordon, wrestling in the heavyweight division, took an early lead against familiar opponent David Rowland of Sikeston. “We were winning, we got up big in the first and kept letting him crawl back into the match. Inevitably, we just didn’t make it happen at the end,” Poplar Bluff coach Kelton Thompson said...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- It wasn't the prettiest win, but Cape Central boys basketball did enough to secure a spot in the SEMO Conference Tournament championship. The second-seeded Tigers made just enough free throws in the end, and No. 3 Poplar Bluff missed an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer as Central held on for a 65-62 semifinal win on Thursday at the Sikeston Field House...

Emma Brune and Briann Jenkins combined for 26 points with 13 apiece as the fourth-seeded Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team erased a six-point deficit and came alive in the final minutes to defeat fifth-seeded Notre Dame 53-47 and avoid an opening-round upset in the Third Annual SEMO Conference Tournament on Monday at the Sikeston Field House in Sikeston, Missouri...

Class and district assignments have been released for boys and girls basketball in the Missouri Bootheel for the 2018-19 season. Clarkton, Delta, Delta C-7, Gideon, North Pemiscot, Richland, Risco, Scott County Central, and Southland will compete in Class 1, District 1. See teams in all Class 1 districts here: Class 1 Districts...

The schedule has been released for the SEMO Conference varsity girls basketball tournament. The eight-team event takes place Nov. 26, Nov. 27 and Nov. 29. No. 1 seeded Dexter plays No. 8 seeded Kennett Nov. 26 at 4 p.m., No. 4 seeded Saxony Lutheran plays No. 5 seeded Notre Dame Nov. 26 at 5:30 p.m., No. 2 seeded Jackson plays No. 7 seeded Cape Central No. 26 at 7 p.m., and No. 3 seeded Poplar Bluff plays No. 6 seeded Sikeston No. 26 at 8:30 p.m...

It didn't take long for the Jackson football team to shake off a week's worth of rust. The Indians, coming off a bye last week, took the lead less than three minutes in and were up 21 points by the end of the first quarter. The fast start resulted in another blowout home win as the top-seeded Indians cruised past No. 4 Poplar Bluff 49-0 in a Class 5 District 1 semifinal at The Pit...

Zachary Moore scored late in the second half as the Cape Central boys soccer team beat North County 2-1 on Tuesday in Sikeston, Missouri, to advance to the Class 3 District 1 championship. With the district semifinal win, the second-seeded Tigers (11-11) avenged an Oct. 24 loss to the third-seeded Raiders and advanced to a district final for the first time since 2012. They will fae No. 1 Farmington in the final at 6 p.m. Thursday...