Poplar Bluff boys blow by Notre Dame, grab huge road conference victory

Poplar Bluff's Brendan Durden fights through defenders for a lay-up during a February 9, 2024 game between the Notre Dame Bulldogs and the Poplar Bluff Mules at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Poplar Bluff defeated Notre Dame, 75-50.

Cole Lee ~ clee@semoball.com

Coming into a feisty environment on the road, Poplar Bluff exorcised its SEMO Conference demons to get back on the right track in a 75-50 win at Notre Dame on Friday night.

Matching up to the height and size of Notre Dame, Poplar Bluff’s speed and skill showed as it pieced up a strong Bulldog defense for 75 – 15 more than the Mules’ average points per game.

“Any game you can win in the SEMO Conference is a good win,” Mules coach William Durden began. “Notre Dame is tough. They play you physical. They press the whole game and they run good stuff.

“I'm very pleased with the guys’ performance here tonight. Hopefully, we can continue to play well down the stretch.”

One of the bigger tests in a game like Friday’s is battling against the moment, and it’s one that the Mules encountered firsthand.

Notre Dame’s student section got loud and got testy toward the Mules, but it never seemed to affect them as they just kept rolling toward the goal.

That’s something that Durden appreciated, both of the moment and of his men.

“When we come over, it's a great high school experience,” Durden said. “Great high school atmosphere. I loved it.

“I love the crowd, and the student section, and things like that, but I thought our team played well and played with more patience.”

Starting out strong with a neck-and-neck first half, the game got away from coach Jeremy Brinkmeyer and his Bulldogs down the stretch.

In what’s been a long season in the SEMO Conference for Notre Dame, he emphasized that he wasn’t looking too far into the Bulldogs’ shortcomings on Friday.

“I thought we competed really well in the first half,” Brinkmeyer said. “They hit a lot of really tough shots, and they shot the ball really well. They shot over 50 percent from three. It's tough to beat a team that’s doing that.

“I liked our effort and I liked how we responded to a lot of situations. They played a better game than us tonight. And, as it is in sports, we’ve just got to move on. Learn from it and get better.”

Separated into two student sections — one the Dawg Pound and the other a second Dawg Pound after the first one sold out — Notre Dame and its “ESPN” theme was loud and proud right out of the gate.

The teams traded punches early, with Poplar Bluff marching out to an early 16-11 lead after the first quarter after dominating the interior.

Shooting saw an uptick in the second quarter, with both teams draining some big shots from further out.

Poplar Bluff distanced itself from the Bulldogs early in the second, but a late surge and a handful of turnovers helped Notre Dame narrow its deficit to 30-23 at halftime.

After a long, dance-filled halftime, the Bulldogs came out flat to begin the second half and suffered immensely from that slow start.

Kolton Johnson hit a 3-pointer to revive the student section in the final few minutes of the third, but a buzzer-beating triple from Poplar Bluff’s Nicolai Kombet gave the Mules a 52-35 lead going into the final frame.

With an already large lead, it just got larger down the stretch as besides Trenton Schumacker, no Bulldogs could truly find rhythm in the final few minutes on the route to a 75-50 loss at home.

Freshman Nicolai Kombet led the Mules with 12 points in the win, tied with senior teammate Mar’Lon Hickman Roberson.

Darius Graham, Preston Moore and Torrence Williams all scored nine points in the win, rounding out a highly-balanced night for the Poplar Bluff attack.

Trenton Schumacker led Notre Dame with an impressive 17 points on the night, going on a tear late in the fourth quarter as tore into the Mules’ late-game defense.

Both Kolton Johnson and Brett Dohogne put up nine points in the loss, putting up strong nights on the stat sheet but falling short of the victory on home court.