Durden’s late basket lifts Mules past Webb City

JOPLIN, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff Mules boys basketball team rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to take a 50-48 win over the Webb City Cardinals in the first round of the Kaminsky Classic on Thursday afternoon.

“It's great to get a win on the first day (of the Kaminsky Classic) against a very tough team,” Poplar Bluff coach Will Durden said. “The kids played through some adversity and found a way to pull it out.”

With the score tied at 48 in the closing seconds, Brendan Durden hit a bucket with five seconds left to give the Mules the go-ahead — and eventual winning — points as Poplar Bluff completed a thrilling comeback.

The Mules and Webb City (4-4) were tied at 12 after the opening period, but the Cardinals outscored Poplar Bluff 16-8 in the second quarter to take a 28-20 lead to the locker room. The Mules responded in the third quarter to cut the Webb City lead to 35-34 by the start of the fourth quarter before pulling it out at the end.

Poplar Bluff improves to 7-4 on the season and gets the win in its first game since falling to Class 4 No. 1 Vashon in the finals of the Poplar Bluff Showdown 12 days prior.

Sammy Durden scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half — six of them in the final period — to share the team lead with his older brother, Brendan Durden. Markell Heard and Dallas Williams each had seven points, with Heard scoring five of those in the fourth quarter, while J.R. Lathon added five points and Jay Edmundson finished with three.

Eliott Pace led the Cardinals with 19 points, while Tavien Turner added 11 and Holton Keith finished with 10.

The Mules are back in action at 7:30 p.m. Friday when they take on the host Joplin Eagles (5-4) in the semifinals of the Kaminsky Classic.