SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Cape Central boys basketball team found a way to win. Poplar Bluff found a way to lose.
In the end, the result sends the Tigers to the SEMO Conference Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2012.
Fourth-seeded Central rallied from a nine-point deficit and took the lead for good on an Austin Parker layup with 1 minute, 27 seconds remaining to sink fifth-seeded Poplar Bluff 46-41 in an offensively-challenged quarterfinal Tuesday night at the Sikeston Field House.
Central will face top-seeded host Sikeston at 6 p.m. Thursday.
"We found a way. Right now I'm OK with that," Central coach Drew Church said. "We found a way to win, and now we get an opportunity to play another good team. ... But our message is, 'We've got to get better.' I've got a good group -- a really fun group -- and they'll come to work. But this is a good game -- a game that we needed -- and they can really see on film how much they stand around on offense."
The Tigers took advantage of 18 Mules turnovers -- including eight in the third quarter -- won the second-half rebounding battle 25-19 and got to the foul line late in the game to overcome an offensive performance to forget.
Central (4-0) was a horrid 13 of 49 (26.5 percent) from the field but made up for it by making 30 trips to the free-throw line. It hit 63.3 percent of those free throws but was 13 of 18 in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Poplar Bluff (2-1) was only marginally better, shooting 17 of 47 (36.2 percent) from the field but going only 4 of 11 (36.4 percent) from the foul line. While the Tigers were earning contact and free throws, the Mules were settling for outside shots. They went 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range and 0 of 10 from outside the arc in the second half.
"I thought we played well defensively. When we got back and guarded, I thought we did a good job," Poplar Bluff coach William Durden said. "I thought we limited them on the offensive boards. We'll watch the film, and I think we'll go away thinking, 'Man, we played hard on defense, but we've got to get a lot smarter on offense.'
"I thought we settled for the 3 way too much in the second half. The first two games of the year, I don't think we shot more than eight (3s) maybe, and in the second half, we shot way too many. We just settled. A lot of it has to do with Cape -- they played really well in the second half -- but we gave away a game because we couldn't make free throws and stopped attacking the basket."
Parker finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for Central, while Chauncey Hughes added 12 points and three steals. Tyrus Reddin had 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Kinyon Hodges added eight points and eight boards.
Hughes and Hodges were each 6 of 8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Dominique Hardimon had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Mules.
"The (Hardimon) kid's averaging 28 points a game. You've really got to limit his transition buckets and his offensive rebounds," Church said. "I don't know what he ended up with tonight, but I thought Austin, for the most part, did a good job (defending him). The (Rodney) Houston kid hurt us a little bit on penetration, but when we play hard, good things happen on the defensive end.
"I'm excited when we play hard and find a way to win when, really, I don't know that [either] team played very well. ... It's just one of those typical ugly, early SEMO Conference games."
Poplar Bluff opened up a 9-3 advantage in the first quarter when Hardimon converted a three-point play with 4:17 left in the period. Tyler Cline hit an NBA-range 3-pointer with 2:09 left to give the Mules their largest lead of the first half, 12-5.
But Central closed the first on a 7-0 run, fueled by turnovers and capped by a drive to the basket by Reddin to knot things at 14-all going into the second quarter.
The Tigers' offense stalled out in the second period, going 3 of 12 from the field.
Despite that, Central managed to remain close, and a putback by Parker kept his side within a possession, 24-21, with 22 seconds left in the half.
As the clock wore down, Cline drained a 3 to put Poplar Bluff on top 24-19 at halftime.
"I really thought we came out flat," Church said. "I think we came on our heels a little bit. I know we're not a real experienced team yet, but that surprised me a little. I think when we got up and down a little bit and put on a little pressure, that helped us get a little momentum."
Poplar Bluff began the second half by opening up its biggest lead of the game, 30-21, with 4:30 left in the third quarter, but that was the high-water mark for the Mules.
Fourteen seconds later, the Tigers embarked on a 12-2 run that lasted into the fourth quarter.
The swing was sparked by Poplar Bluff turnovers, with the Mules giving the ball away eight times in the third. Chauncey Hughes scored in transition off a steal by Tyrus Reddin with less than 30 seconds remaining in the quarter to cut the deficit to 32-29 entering the final period.
"They're at their best when they're playing in transition," Durden said of Central. "In the first half when we were playing well, we limited their transition points. When they went on a run, we just got careless on the ball, and they had a couple pick-sixes and killed us. We blew a nine-point lead with four turnovers in a row and two missed one-and-ones. You can't do that."
Reddin got to the net for a scoop and score for the first bucket of the fourth quarter and following a steal, Hughes converted a pair of free throws 10 seconds later to give Central its first lead of the game, 33-32.
The two teams battled to a 38-38 tie with 1:42 left when Joseph Hardimon drove to the basket, but Parker got the ball down low and scored to put his team up for good, 40-38, with 1:27 remaining.
The Tigers shot well enough on their free throws the rest of the way to cushion the advantage and move on to a semifinal matchup with the rival Bulldogs.
Poplar Bluff will face New Madrid Central, which lost 93-37 to top-seeded Sikeston, in a consolation semifinal at 6 p.m. today.
It is the first time since 2013 that the Mules lost did not win their opening game. They were a No. 6 seed that season.