Poplar Bluff

Bryce Phelps singled home the winning run as the Kelly baseball team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to post a 4-3 walk-off victory over East Prairie on Friday in Benton, Missouri. The Hawks trailed 3-0 before starting their comeback with a single run in the sixth...

The Poplar Bluff golf team is young this year, and it starts from the top. Freshman Alex Wiseman enters the season as the team’s No. 1 ranked player and tops a varsity team with only one senior on it. “We’re really, really young and it will be a fun year to see if we can get them better each day. ...

There are more than 100 kids out for Poplar Bluff track. While the boys' team is shaking out because of plenty of returning starters, the strategy for the girls' team is to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. “We get this every so many years in swimming, but in track, I’ve never had it like this before,” Poplar Bluff girls track coach Beth Lewis-Muse said. ...

BENTON, Mo. — Bryce Morgan shut down the New Madrid County Central baseball team on Thursday. Morgan threw six innings, of two-hit, zero earned run ball, while striking out 10, as the Hawks beat the Eagles 8-1. Peyton Eftink and Grant Menz each doubled for Kelly. Menz added three RBI, while Eftink had two...

SIKESTON — Through two games played, the Sikeston girls soccer team has yet to score a goal in regulation. On Thursday night, the game was scoreless at the end of regulation, and without any extra time needed, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston went straight to penalty kicks, with the Lady Bulldogs prevailing for a 3-2 win...

CHAFFEE, Mo. — Sam Pierce struck out 15 as Poplar Bluff surged in the final innings. Pierce pitched a complete game and pushed his pitch count to the very end by getting the final strikeout with his 104th pitch. He allowed three hits and a walk to go with his 15 strikeouts. He got at least one strikeout against every spot in the lineup except Chaffee’s leadoff hitter and struck out the side twice. Two different Red Devils struck out in every at bat...

It all came down to a sprained ankle and some ruthless strategy. All the matches between Poplar Bluff and Dexter were completed with the score tied 4-4. Only the top seeds were left in Poplar Bluff’s Ben Stewart and Dexter’s Eric Hahn. Stewart had rolled his ankle two days prior against Crystal City and it flared up on him midway through a match where neither player led by more than a game until the very end...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Poplar Bluff's Dominique Hardimon was presented with the John Gibbs Award as the most outstanding player in the SEMO Conference on Wednesday night at the 61st annual Poplar Bluff Letter Club Basketball Banquet while Kiley Bess and Dexter's Chaylea Mosby shared the the Bob Gray Award...

KENNETT, Mo. - The Kennett Indians baseball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning but was unable to make the defensive plays it needed in the following innings to secure a victory against the visiting Poplar Bluff Mules Tuesday evening...

After shutting out West Plains in their season-opener Friday, Poplar Bluff faced much tougher competition in their second game. Seckman consistently overloaded the right side of the field and had 25 shots to Poplar Bluff 5 as it went on to beat the Mules 5-1 at Poplar Bluff...

BONNE TERRE — Poplar Bluff rallied to take the lead in the seventh inning and held on to beat North County 9-7 on Monday. Tied in the seventh, Luke Becker hit a two-run home run for his only hit in the game. He also scored twice. Carson Webb pitched in the win for the Mules...

WEST PLAINS — Poplar Bluff opened its season with a shutout win. Against a much improved West Plains team, which Poplar Bluff mercy-ruled 10-0 early in the second half last year, the young Lady Mules squad won 2-0. “I thought we had a great first game. I thought West Plains give credit to them, they are a much-improved team because the past two years, we put 20 goals on them,” Poplar Bluff coach Rusty Crafton said. “They are much improved and I told their coach that.”...

OZARK, Mo. — Poplar Bluff coach Steve Edwards had four pitchers slated for the Mules’ season opener. He only needed two and kept both below their pitch counts as Poplar Bluff won 9-5 against Ozark, Mo. Noah Burkey started and threw 58 pitches before Dawson Hanner finished the game on 56 pitches...

The vast majority of Poplar Bluff’s power graduated. After going 21-3 and losing in the district championship to Jackson, the strength of the Mules is likely to shift this season, but coach Steve Edwards is confident there are still plenty of strengths...

It was a familiar sight. The Jackson girls basketball team celebrating a district championship while Poplar Bluff watched helplessly. The top-seeded Indians turned up the defense and hit enough shots late to defeat No. 2 Poplar Bluff 43-35 in the Class 5 District 1 championship Thursday at Jackson High School...

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Jackson boys basketball team had lost to Poplar Bluff twice already this season. The Indians made sure they didn't fall for a third time. Second-seeded Jackson reeled off nine consecutive points at the end of the first quarter and held on the rest of the way for a 62-54 over No. 1 Poplar Bluff in the Class 5 District 1 championship at Jackson High School...

JACKSON, Mo. -- Six seconds into Tuesday's Class 5 District 1 semifinal, Poplar Bluff began to show why it's the No. 1 seed. The Mules took the opening tip down the court with a quickness, the ball rotated and found Dominique Hardimon inside for a layup. The Mules' defense quickly turned around and forced a steal that led to a putback from Carlton McDonald-Jordan to make it 4-0...

Poplar Bluff’s Katelyn Moeller was able to wait until her dad had a day off work. She did not wait around for a signing ceremony. “I was nervous getting up to it, knowing if I was going to do it or not,” Moeller said. “When I got the paper, I waited for a day when my dad was off on a Saturday to sign it with him. It is definitely relieving that they got the actual one two days ago, and I’m am officially going there and I don’t have to worry about finding a college to go to.”...

A 46-5 singles record through three seasons has earned Ben Stewart a chance to continue his tennis career at Greenville University. Stewart, a District singles champion during his junior year and a qualifier in the first round of the State playoffs with Poplar Bluff — twice in doubles and once in singles — was drawn to Greenville because of the team chemistry he sensed when he visited and met with some of the players at the college...

Freshman Lexi Rubel netted 23 points as the Notre Dame girls basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a 56-45 conference home win over Poplar Bluff on Thursday. Senior Megan Heisserer chipped in 12 points for Notre Dame (18-7, 5-2 SEMO Conference) and joined the 1,000 point club in the win...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Poplar Bluff’s Kiley Bess broke the Poplar Bluff girls career scoring record Thursday. Bess, a junior, scored 23 points in a 56-45 loss at Notre Dame, giving her 1,641 points for her career. She broke Mary Kalich’s record of 1,635, set from 1987-91...

ST. PETERS, Mo. — Raegan McAtee got her medal. The Poplar Bluff senior finished eighth in the 100-yard butterfly at the MSHSAA Class 1 Swimming and Diving Championships in St. Peters, Missouri, on Saturday, earning her first All-State swimming medal...

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Poplar Bluff sent six wrestlers to the state tournament over the weekend. Everyone lost their first match and didn’t it to the final day of matches on Saturday. “Overall I was worried not having any state experience would maybe shock our guys and I think it did. It will be a good building block our program going forward to have this experience,” Poplar Bluff coach Kelton Thompson said...

After staking its first double-digit lead of the night, the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team didn’t score again for the next 2 ˝ minutes Monday night. Fortunately for the Mules, neither did Farmington. The Knights managed just four field goals in the second half as Poplar Bluff secured rebound after rebound for a 46-33 win at the Senior High Gym...

Editors note: A story on the Poplar Bluff Junior High cheerleaders winning 14th in the nation will appear in a later edition. Britten Edmundson threw up in a clear, plastic ziplock bag. The Poplar Bluff sophomore cheerleader was on the team bus and said she felt sick. The team didn’t think much of it because everybody felt sick. Then Bailey Edmundson, a junior, said Britten was about to throw up...

SIKESTON — Leading by six points with 30 seconds to go, Charleston looked to be on its way to a gutsy win over a talented Poplar Bluff team on Thursday night at Charleston High School. In those 30 seconds, though, the tables turned on the Bluejays, as they fell to the Mules 92-91...

In a few days, basketball postseason begins for teams across Missouri, but for an hour Wednesday afternoon, the focus was back on fall sports. In a live one-hour radio show on SEMO ESPN, 55 student-athletes were announced as fall sports finalists for the 2019 Semoball Awards...

MALDEN, Mo. — Leading by 15 points at halftime was all that East Prairie needed to breeze past Malden on Tuesday night. Mason Bryars scored 22 points, while Derez Tipler added 11. Tyler McCurter also reached double-digits in scoring, with 10 of his own, as East Prairie (14-10) defeated the Green Wave 79-43...

Poplar Bluff had five wrestlers qualify Saturday for the MSHSAA Class 3 state tournament, giving the Mules six total state wrestlers after Paige Earls qualified last weekend for the inaugural girls Class 1 state tournament. Gatlin Taylor (106 pounds) finished fourth, Quentin Bell (126) finished third, John Smothers (170) finished third, Wyatt Lazalier (182) finished fourth and Kendric Gordon (285) finished third to advance to state...

A consistent issue for Poplar Bluff over the past two weeks came to a head Saturday. Poplar Bluff lost at home to Ladue Horton Watkins 73-57, and all of the reasons why come back to effort. "You could probably stretch back to the Cape Central game (Jan. ...

Notre Dame and Poplar Bluff had no trouble knocking down 3-pointers Friday night, as the teams sank 10 apiece. The story at the foul line was different -- and the difference in the fourth quarter of the SEMO Conference game. The Mules missed eight foul shots in the final quarter alone while Notre Dame went 7 for 12 at the line in the fourth, including all four in the final minute, pulling away for a 75-67 win...

ST. VINCENT, Mo. — First halves have been relatively easy for the Scott County Central girls basketball team for most of the season. On Thursday night, though, the Bravettes seemed to be in for a fight, as they only led by six points at halftime. Scott County Central (17-5) outscored St. Vincent 35-11 in the second half to win 66-36...

Leah Cauble made sure her Senior Night would not be ruined. The Oran senior star once again led her team with a game-high 36 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals as the Class 2 Eagles picked up a big 75-54 victory over Class 5 Poplar Bluff on Tuesday at Oran High School...

ORAN — Poplar Bluff was within one possession of Oran heading into the fourth quarter, but a combination of foul trouble and free throws snowballed against the Mules. Poplar Bluff's Kiley Bess fouled out with about 2 1/2 minutes left and five Mules finished with at least three fouls as Oran pulled away for a 72-54 win on its senior night...

CAPE GIRARDEAU— Poplar Bluff finished second in the SEMo Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at Cape Girardeau on Tuesday. The Mules finished second with 467 points. Cape Central won with 532 points while Notre Dame came in third with 346 points. Jackson earned 304 points, Farmington had 129 and Saxony Lutheran got 32...

Tuesday night was a reunion of sorts for the Poplar Bluff and South Pemiscot boys basketball teams. South Pemiscot’s coach Michael Kilgore grew up and played at Poplar Bluff just as his son Josiah does now. “It was great,” Coach Kilgore said. “I watched these kids grow up and I told these guys it’s a family environment...

Freshman Lexi Rubel scored a game-high 16 points as the Notre Dame girls basketball team fell just short in its 40-36 conference loss to Dexter on Monday at the Bearcat Event Center. Megan Heisserer and Julia Williams combined for 12 points with six apiece for the Bulldogs (14-7, 4-2 SEMO Conference), who mounted a comeback after trailing by 12 points at halftime...

Kiley Bess and Emma Brune put on a free-throw shooting clinic Monday night in a SEMO Conference game at Poplar Bluff. Brune sank 14 of 15 foul shots and scored a single-game school record 34 points for Saxony Lutheran. Bess was 10 of 12 at the line and finished with 31 points as the Poplar Bluff junior reached a scoring milestone. She sank six straight foul shots in the final 1:38 and came away with a two key rebounds to help the Mules pull away for a 66-62 win at the Senior High Gym...

Poplar Bluff’s Paige Earls qualified for state over the weekend while teammates Braelin Aldridge and Katlyn Pickard nearly did the same. Earls finished third in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 championships to advance to the inaugural girls state tournament while Aldridge and Pickard both finished fourth...

ST. CLAIR, Mo. — Kate Grubbs made the history books for Sikeston on Saturday. The freshman earned third-place honors at the Class 1, District 1 Tournament, to advance to the state tournament. Grubbs started her day by pinning her first two opponents...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – All season long the Sikeston Bulldogs have buried teams with a relentless offensive attack for 32 minutes. On Friday night at Poplar Bluff, the Bulldogs appeared to be on the verge of putting the Mules away as they built an 89-74 lead with 3:45 left in the game...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Trailing by 15 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Poplar Bluff Mules staged a furious rally Friday night. Sikeston held on with six free throws in the final 19 seconds after its lead was cut to a single point as the Mules fell short 103-96 in front of a standing-room only homecoming crowd at the Senior High Gym...

Alexis Allstun recorded 19 points as an evenly-distributed scoring pattern helped the Jackson girls basketball team fend off a 3-point crazy Poplar Bluff team in its 57-45 conference win on Thursday at Jackson High School. Kalli Mayfield contributed 12 points for the Indians (15-3, 4-0 SEMO Conference), who were behind four points at the break. Mik Liley netted 10 points as Jackson outscored the Mules by 16 points in the second half to erase the deficit and obtain the victory...

JACKSON — Poplar Bluff racked up points in the medleys on its way to winning the Saxony Lutheran Invitational with the Lady Crusaders and Notre Dame competing. The Mules finished with 269 points to beat Notre Dame, which had 214, while Saxony earned 13 points...

After a slow start, the Poplar Bluff defense turned things around in the second quarter. Tied at seven with New Madrid Central going into the second quarter, the Mules (14-3) used numerous turnovers to build a 19 point lead at halftime and then going on to win 66-32 at New Madrid County high school...

DESOTO, Mo. — Freshman Gatlin Taylor had Poplar Bluff’s best finish at the 41st DeSoto Bob Georger Classic over the weekend while the Mules finished third out of 21 teams. Host DeSoto won the tournament with 20 points while Hillsboro was second with 155.5 and Poplar Bluff had 149 points...

Having not played in 11 days, the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team needed to knock off some rust before a key meeting with a district rival Thursday. New Madrid County Central attempted to take advantage of that rust with a full-court pressure defense that came in allowing 37.2 points per game...