Poplar Bluff

Host sites are set for most district tournaments if spring sports resume in Missouri. Missouri high schools remain out of session and all springs sports activities and practices are currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indiana High School Athletics Association canceled spring sports in Indiana Thursday due to the VOVID-19 pandemic...

The 2019-20 SEMO Conference all-conference girls basketball awards have been released. Poplar Bluff senior Kiley Bess is the SEMO Conference Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Bess, who has signed to play basketball at St. Louis University, led the conference in scoring with 166 points in regular-season conference action. She averaged a team-high 24 points per conference game...

The 2019-2020 SEMO Conference all-conference boys basketball awards have been released. Sikeston senior Payton Howard is the SEMO Conference Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Howard, who has signed to play baseball at St. Louis University, led the conference in scoring with 175 points in regular-season conference action. He averaged 22 points per conference game...

By BRIAN ROSENER Staff Writer Kiley Bess knocked down a shot in the closing seconds of the state quarterfinal two weeks ago. It ended up being one of the very last baskets of a shortened postseason. Poplar Bluff’s season ended with a 44-33 loss to Kirkwood in the MSHSAA Class 5 playoffs, that were later canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic...

The Missouri State High School Activities Association issued an update regarding the status of spring sports amidst the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday. “While schools across the state are determining the best course of action during this unprecedented time, the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) office staff continues to prepare for Spring Championships,” MSHSAA said in a press release. ...

Carson Webb and Dawson Hanner have been playing baseball together since as long as they can remember. The Poplar Bluff seniors recently signed their National Letters of Intent to play together at Three Rivers College on the same day...

The preseason Missouri high school baseball state rankings were released Wednesday by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association. Six baseball teams from the semoball.com coverage area are state-ranked. Cooter, which placed third in Class 1 last spring and finished 22-1 in its fall campaign, is ranked No. ...

POPLAR BLUFF — A day after MSHSAA essentially put the spring sports season on hold, Poplar Bluff athletes were practicing in hopes that the season is not lost amid concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. “I don’t even know what’s going to happen,” Poplar Bluff senior Emily Spencer said Tuesday during soccer practice at Mules Stadium...

This story will be updated. ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Kirkwood scored nine straight points to start the second half and Poplar Bluff never recovered Saturday in the MSHSAA Class 5 quarterfinal. The Mules went scoreless for 3 minutes and 45 seconds after taking a one-point lead into halftime as Kirkwood surged past Poplar Bluff 44-33 at Francis Howell Central High School...

Poplar Bluff and Notre Dame high school officials were working Thursday night to plan for the MSHSAA Class 5 quarterfinal on Saturday featuring the girls basketball team with spectator limits. MSHSAA announced it was making adjustments to the basketball playoffs in a conference call with schools as state and local health officials announced a second case of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Missouri...

There might be the same number of people in the stands as an early-season tournament game, but the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team will be playing in the MSHSAA Class 5 quarterfinal. The Mules will face Kirkwood at noon Saturday at Francis Howell Central in St. Charles County with each school only allowed to have 60 people in the gym...

Spring sports for Missouri high schools will start as planned next week, MSHSAA announced Friday after releasing district assignments. "We re monitoring what is happening from the Missouri Department of Health, the Governor's Office, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education," MSHSAA said in a statement Friday...

HILLSBORO, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff Mules hit the snooze button to continue their dream season Wednesday night. Katie Pattillo, Hannah Corcimiglia and Abby Turner each scored as the Mules built a double-digit lead following a 10-minute delay in the second quarter...

Back in the state playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team is having too much fun to stop now. “We’re not done yet,” Poplar Bluff senior Kiley Bess said after the Mules beat Jackson in the district final...

POPLAR BLUFF — Jackson limited Kiley Bess to just three shots but Poplar Bluff was leading by double digits midway through the second quarter. Instead of Bess, it was Hannah Bass knocking down 3-pointers as the Mules sprinted ahead Thursday night in front of a packed Senior High Gym...

POPLAR BLUFF - With perfect free-throw shooting down the stretch, Jackson defended its district title, this time on Poplar Bluff's court. The Indians were 4 for 4 in the final 15 seconds of the game and 8 for 8 in the fourth quarter to beat Poplar Bluff 49-45 on Thursday in Poplar Bluff...

Once again, it will be Poplar Bluff and Jackson for the district championship. Both teams advanced to the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 final with wins Tuesday night and will meet with the title on the line for a sixth straight year. The Mules put together one of their better defensive showings of the season in beating Northwest 79-23 at the Senior High Gym...

POPLAR BLUFF — Poplar Bluff and Jackson will meet for the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 girls basketball championship for a fourth straight year Thursday night. The Mules advanced to the final with a 50-16 win over Northwest on Monday night at the Senior High Gym. They didn't give up a field goal until the final 2 minutes of the half...

POPLAR BLUFF — Leading by a point late in the fourth quarter, Kiley Bess found teammate Abby Turner with a pass down the lane for a layup. Bess later provided more breathing room at the foul line after a steal by Sierra Sievers as Poplar Bluff claimed the SEMO Conference title with a 50-47 win over Notre Dame...

Clinging to a two-point lead in the final minute, Chance Campbell came down with a defensive rebound as he was fouled and sank a free throw. Kendrick Brown then stepped in the path of a pass for a steal and a contested layup as the Poplar Bluff boys basketball team finished the game, and the regular season, strong with a 72-65 win over Park Hills Central on Thursday night...

Cole Laws is looking forward to focusing on playing linebacker in college next fall. The Poplar Bluff senior, who recently signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Southwest Baptist University, also played right guard for the Mules. "I'm done with that," Laws joked...

FARMINGTON, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff girls basketball team had a five-game winning streak snapped Monday night as Farmington held off the Mules 59-54. “We couldn’t get the stops when we needed them,” Poplar Bluff coach John David Pattillo said of the fourth quarter...

There were two things that veteran Cape Central girl’s swim coach Dayna Powell knew concerning the Tigers’ 200 medley relay prospects for a championship in Friday’s MSHSAA Class 1 State Finals at the St. Peters (Mo.) Rec-Plex:

ST. PETERS, Mo. — Paige Bradley advanced to the finals of the 50-yard freestyle at the MSHSAA Class 2 state swimming championships Friday. The Poplar Bluff senior cut 0.38 of a second off her previous-best time, finishing eighth at 24.71 seconds. “She had a good start and she said she held her breath the entire time,” Mules coach Beth Lewis-Muse said. “She knew what she had to do.”...

Five boys basketball teams and two girls basketball teams from the Semoball.com coverage area are ranked in the final regular-season state poll released by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Delta (21-5), which is the No. 1 seed in Class 1, District 2, drops two spots to No. 9 in the Class 1 boys poll...

Poplar Bluff will host the upcoming MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 tournament as the favorite. Both the boys and girls basketball teams picked up the top seeds Friday for the tournament, which will start a week from Monday. The Mules top the boys bracket with a 7-14 record heading into a trip Saturday to Jefferson City...

COLUMBIA, Mo. — All three Poplar Bluff wrestlers lost their opening matches Thursday night in the MSHSAA Class 4 state championships, but junior Gavyn Hays kept his season alive. After being pinned in his first match Thursday night at Mizzou Arena, Hays held off Owen Heslin of Francis Howell, winning 3-2 to advance in the consolation side of the 220-pound bracket...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Charleston coach Danny Farmer said he's never had a starting five of all seniors. "They've been together awhile and we talk about they want to do some great things," Farmer said. "That's our goal, try to do some great things." With the MSHSAA district playoffs starting Saturday, the Bluejays tuned up with an 87-60 SEMO Conference win at Poplar Bluff that gave Farmer 500 wins at Charleston...

Poplar Bluff picked up its fifth win in a row. The Mules beat Kennett 61-49 Thursday at Kennett, setting up a SEMO Conference Showdown next Thursday against Notre Dame at Poplar Bluff. Both schools are 6-0 in conference play this season. Kiley Bess had 24 points to lead the Mules (15-8) after going 14 for 17 on free throws. Abby Turner added 10 points...

Swimmers dive and divers swim but it’s rare that one athlete will do both well. Poplar Bluff senior Paige Bradley is the only diver in a field of 33 at the MSHSAA Class 2 championships to also have qualified as a swimmer in an individual event. There is only one other this year and last — Margo O’Meara, a junior from Westminster Christian and the defending Class 1 champion diver...

While his teammates, Quinten Bell and Gatlin Taylor, have walked in the grand march at Mizzou Arena, Poplar Bluff junior Gavyn Hays will be making his first trip to Columbia for the 90th MSHSAA Wrestling Championships that start today. Two years ago, Hays had not even wrestled anywhere...

CEDAR HILL, Mo. — Poplar Bluff senior Quinten Bell advanced to the championship match while Gatlin Taylor and Gavyn Hays each placed third to qualify for the MSHSAA Class 4 wrestling championships Saturday. Four more Mules got within a victory of advancing to state as Poplar Bluff placed seventh in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 tournament at Northwest High School...

By BRIAN ROSENER Daily American Republic LADUE, Mo. — Playing a state-ranked opponent for the second time in as many days, the Poplar Bluff boys basketball team went from losing by 25 to losing by a basket. Chance Campbell's 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime hit the front of the rim as the Mules fell 46-43 at Ladue Horton Watkins on Saturday...

After losing their first regular-season conference game in nearly five years, the Neelyville girls basketball team kept a much longer streak alive Friday night. The Tigers earned their 12th consecutive Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament title by beating Doniphan 63-47 at the Libla Family Sports Complex...

In late season SEMO Conference boys basketball at Notre Dame, it was the Bulldogs gaining control from tip-off outscoring Poplar Bluff 18 to 3 in the first quarter to dominate the Mules. The Mules were absolutely no match for Notre Dame (No. 6 ranked in Class 4) who outscored Poplar Bluff 59-29 through the first three periods.

POPLAR BLUFF — By the time Oran sank its second shot from the field, Poplar Bluff had already built a 22-point lead and there was just under three minutes left in the half. The Mules forced 11 first-quarter turnovers to build a double-digit lead and knock off the state-ranked Eagles 56-37 on Senior Night...

Six boys basketball teams and three girls basketball teams from the Semoball.com coverage area are ranked in the latest state poll released by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Thursday. Delta (19-4), which has won nine of its last 10, drops a spot to No. 7 in the Class 1 boys poll...

The Poplar Bluff baseball team will be hitting the road this spring with trips to Kansas and either side of Missouri. To help with travel costs, the Mules will be hosting a Home Run Derby at Bobby Strenfel Field on Saturday, March 14. There will also be a Fungo Golf Tournament starting at 7:30 a.m. before the 10 a.m. start of the derby...

It was only fitting that the Poplar Bluff girl’s swim team didn’t dominate the SEMO Conference Meet Tuesday at the Central Municipal Pool on an individual basis. That is because, within the Mule program, the individual takes a backseat to the team daily.

There is rarely a shortage of excellent athletic performances throughout Southeast Missouri by high school athletes each year and the fall season in 2019 was no exception.

JACKSON, Mo. — Abby Turner sank a pair of foul shots with 10 seconds left and Kiley Bess partially blocked a 3-point shot in the closing seconds to keep the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team unbeaten in conference play. Bess gave the Mules a one-point lead on a pair of free throws with 36 seconds remaining and Turner was sent to the line after coming down with a defensive rebound. Turner sank both to give Poplar Bluff a 62-59 SEMO Conference win over Saxony Lutheran...

Puxico outscored Bloomfield in a home victory on Saturday, scoring higher than the Wildcats in every quarter. Ethan Helm scored six 3-pointers, scoring four within the first quarter. Helm contributed 20 points total to the Indians. Jamison Dodd gained 21 points for Bloomfield...

HILLSBORO, Mo. — Grace Kearby got within a win of qualifying for the MSHSAA state wrestling championships twice Saturday but was pinned each time as the Poplar Bluff sophomore fell short. BreAnn Thresher also finished a win shy of qualifying for state while Poplar Bluff's first-ever state qualifier, junior Paige Earls, missed the tournament due to illness...

La’Niaa Brown of Cape Girardeau Central has notched her place in the sporting annals of the Tigers. Brown, a freshman, has become the first girls wrestler in school history to be a state qualifier. Brown, who posted an 11-3 record for Central – best on the team – finished as runner-up in the Class 1 District 1 tournament held Friday and Saturday at Hillsboro High School...

Six boys basketball teams and two girls basketball teams from the Semoball.com coverage area are ranked in the latest state poll released by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Delta, which had won nine straight as it beat Oak Ridge 105-86 in the semifinal of the Scott-Mississippi County Conference Tournament Friday, remains No. 6 in the Class 1 boys state poll. Oak Ridge (12-9) moves into the rankings at No. 10 in the Class 1 boys state poll...

To reach their potential, the Poplar Bluff swim team has focused on smashing ceramic tiles this season. The goals for a recent home meet were written on a square tile to remind the swimmers not to be disqualified in their event, “everyone is cheering” and “don’t give up before the wall.”...

SIKESTON — A 13-0 first-quarter run paced the Sikeston boys basketball team against Poplar Bluff on Friday night at the Sikeston Field House. Sikeston (11-6, 3-2 SEMO Conference) outscored the Mules in every quarter, en route to an 86-64 win. The point total for the Bulldogs marked the fourth time this season that they eclipsed 80-plus points, and it was also the highest-scoring game of the season, as well...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff girls basketball team scored as many points off turnovers as Jackson was able to muster on offense Thursday night. The Mules forced 27 turnovers leading to 33 points to earn a 53-33 SEMO Conference win at the Senior High Gym...

FARMINGTON, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff swim team won every event Thursday for a 190-78 win over host Farmington as the Mules prepared for the SEMO Conference meet next week. Olivia Kirkman won a pair of races while Jessica Rush, Kacey Gregory, Audrey Rahlmann, Gabrielle Fortner, Carly Wiseman and Julia Smothers also earned wins for the Mules...

By BRIAN ROSENER Daily American Republic POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — After 11 lead changes and a pair of ties with neither team leading by more than five points, New Madrid County Central found a play that worked and kept going to it. Christen Phillips attacked the baseline, scoring six points during an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter as the Eagles spoiled Poplar Bluff's homecoming 53-42 Tuesday night...