Top-ranked Charleston 'finds a way to win' against competitive Mules

Poplar Bluff junior center Torrence Williams puts up a shot against the defense of Charleston junior center Ko'Terrion Owens on Thursday at Charleston High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

CHARLESTON – No one watching the Poplar Bluff High School boy’s basketball game at Charleston on Thursday was giving the Mules a puncher’s chance of leaving Mississippi County with a victory against the Class 3 No. 1-ranked Blue Jays. And Poplar Bluff didn’t do that. However, what the Mules did do was show the ability to compete, before falling late 80-74.

“I like that our team is still competing,” Poplar Bluff coach William Durden said. “When you go through a stretch and you play 8 out of 10 teams and they are all ranked, and you still finish off the season playing three ranked teams straight, it can get frustrating.”

The Mules (9-13) endured a seven-game losing streak last month, but have evolved into a team that has played much better in winning three of its last six games. That ability showed throughout the first half, as Poplar Bluff jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the opening quarter and still was ahead before Blue Jay senior guard Almareion Williams put in a driving basket with 2:29 remaining in the opening half to tie the game at 29.

“Kids can get their heads down,” Durden said, “but our kids have battled all year and they keep competing.”

The Blue Jays (20-6) clamored back with its usual brand of suffocating, physical defense, and led 38-34 at halftime before the balanced Mules got offense from seven different players in the third quarter to tie the game at 56.

“We are finding ways to win,” third-year Charleston coach Jamarcus Williams said.

Poplar Bluff junior guard Darius Graham grabbed an offensive board and scored midway through the final quarter to pull his team to within 65-64, but having to deal with the Blue Jay pressure began to wear on Poplar Bluff – as it does every team – and the Blue Jays methodically pulled away over the final four minutes.

“Sometimes it takes pounding the ball inside,” Williams said of his offensive strategy. “Sometimes we put an emphasis on limiting teams to one shot. We didn’t do a very good job of that tonight, but we are finding ways to win.”

Charleston senior wing Fletravion Stanback scored all 12 of his points in the final quarter, with four of those coming from the free throw line. That was an area of concern for Blue Jay Nation, as its favorite team missed 18 of 32 attempts from the line.

“I don’t like seeing that at all,” Williams said.

The Blue Jays placed four players in double figures, led by 6-foot-1 junior center Ko’Terrion Owens, who was a beast on the block against the much bigger Mules.

Owens finished with 21 points, while Rico Coleman had 16 and Almareion Williams totaled 17 from his point guard spot.

Graham led Poplar Bluff with 15 points, while senior Gavin Rivers had 14, and junior forward Torrence Williams, who battled foul trouble in the second half, finished with 10.

“We are coming into practice and working every day,” Durden said. “That is what I love about this season.”

Poplar Bluff’s remaining schedule is as brutal as the earlier portion has been.

The Mules will travel to Central (Park Hills) (20-2) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before closing the regular season with a home game against Sikeston next Friday.

Charleston is off until playing in the bye game of the MSHSAA Class 3 District 2 Tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The No. 1-seed Blue Jays will face the winner of No. 4-seed Valle Catholic and No. 5-seed Kelly at Saxony Lutheran High School.