Rodney Houston's two free throws with 10 seconds remaining Friday night completed a thrilling comeback by the host Mules to win the 31st annual Poplar Bluff Showdown.
Down seven with a little more than 2 1/2 minutes to play, the Mules rallied against Jonesboro (Ark.), the defending champs, to claim their third title with a 61-59 win at a packed Senior High Gym.
"The kids battled back. I tried to take this championship away from them," said Mules coach William Durden who was issued a technical foul earlier in the fourth quarter when Jonesboro pulled ahead.
Dominique Hardimon, who led the Mules with a double-double, didn't see it that way.
"He loves us, so that's the reason he's fighting for us," said Hardimon who started the comeback with an offensive rebound and tied the game with two minutes remaining.
Joseph Hardimon had two steals during the rally, which saw the Mules score nine straight in 75 seconds.
Jonesboro senior Desi Sills, who is signed to play at the University of Arkansas next season, sank two free throws with 67 seconds remaining to tie the game.
Following a timeout, the Mules held the ball for the final shot with Houston being fouled as he headed for the basket. In the double-bonus, the senior stepped to the free-throw line for the first time.
"I was confident I was going to make both of them. I was ready to shoot," said Houston, who missed 10 foul shots in the opening round Wednesday.
Durden said he thought Houston was over-thinking his free throws in Poplar Bluff's 66-61 win over Fayetteville (Ark.). Houston hit 9 of 10 in the 89-72 semifinal win over Cordova (Tenn.).
"I knew they were going in because I have confidence in him," Dominique Hardimon said. "I knew we had it."
After the second free throw, the Hurricanes hurried upcourt with senior Tony Hutson shooting around 6-foot-5 junior Nik Rowland, who came away with the rebound that hit the side of the rim. Rowland flung the ball the length of the court to Tyler Cline as the buzzer sounded, setting off a wild celebration, the biggest in Poplar Bluff's new gym.
After winning the Showdown once in the first 27 years, the Mules claimed their second title in four years under Durden.
"It was a heck of a game," Durden said. "The kids gave it a great effort."
Houston and Dominique Hardimon, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds were named to the all-tournament team.
The Mules (7-4) led by as much as 13 in the first half and built another double-digit lead in the third quarter. They took a 43-38 lead into the fourth but Sills tied it at 46-all with 6:15 to play.
Jonesboro senior Blayton Williams broke the tie half a minute later, scoring over Rowland trying to draw a charge.
Durden, who rarely gets out of his chair, was issued a technical foul for leaving the coach's box to argue the call.
"I should know better than that, but our kids got fired up after that," Durden said.
Houston, who scored 11, was forced to the bench with four fouls midway through the third quarter when Jonesboro drew one of four charges and Rowland already had one drawn charge of his own before the play.
"It frustrated me a lot but we've got to play through it, play tough," said Rowland who had five points and six rebounds.
Williams missed the and-1 foul shot but Sills sank both technical free throws then got back to the line where he split two more for a 51-46 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left.
After the five-point swing, the Hurricanes got a steal and Hutson scored in transition with a contested layin off the glass for a 55-48 lead. Jonesboro turned it over three times but the Mules didn't take advantage and still trailed by seven just over a minute later.
"They turned over the rock but we matched it and that got us in trouble," Jonesboro coach Wes Swift said.
Poplar Bluff's comeback started with an offensive rebound that was tied up. On the ensuing inbound play, Houston found Joseph Hardimon for a three-point play. Hardimon then got a steal as the Mules pressed and found his older brother streaking to the basket.
Jonesboro nearly stole the ball back but the elder Hardimon got it and scored as he was fouled. The junior missed the free throw but later got a rebound off a miss at the other end and went coast-to-coast, tying the game with two minutes remaining on a layin.
Joseph Hardimon picked off a pass and scored on the other end as he was fouled but missed the free throw with 1:23 to play. The freshman scored 11, reaching double figures in all three tournament games.
"He's not a freshman anymore," Durden said. "Took him awhile to get going but he's getting a feel for the speed of the game and continues to get better."
Sills answered with a baseline drive but was sent to the foul line where the senior sank both shots to tie the game with 67 tense seconds left.
Huston scored 20 points to lead Jonesboro while Sills added 18 and was named to the all-tournament team for a third straight year.
"We were just so bad in the first half," Swift said. "Scattered, not communicating."
Poplar Bluff jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start but Jonesboro answered with a 6-2 swing. Huston's steal and pull-up jumper in transition gave the Hurricanes their first lead but Jonesboro didn't score again over the next six minutes.
Dominique Hardimon answered on a putback off a missed 3, part of 11 second-chance points for the Mules, who finished with a plus-11 rebounding advantage.
Poplar Bluff missed chances to extend its lead by turning the ball over five times as Jonesboro's offense stalled. In all, the Mules turned the ball over 23 times leading to 23 points for Jonesboro.
The Mules led 20-15 after one quarter and scored the next eight points to lead by 13 before Jonesboro ended its scoring drought on J.G. Stafford's hook shot in the paint.
A putback by Shamar Pitts, Stafford's 3 and a dunk by Hutson off a steal by Stafford capped a 12-3 run to get Jonesboro within four but Cline hit a 3 off a pass from Josiah Kilgore to give Poplar Bluff a 34-27 halftime lead.
Cline sank all three of his 3-pointers in the second quarter for nine points off the bench while Carlton McDonald and Rowland connected on first-quarter 3s. The Mules shot 51.1 percent from the field, including 6 of 17 from 3-point range.
"We're just working hard, that's all," Dominique Hardimon said. "We wanted to win this so bad."
The Mules used an 8-1 run to lead by 10 in the third quarter. At the tail end, however, Houston picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench.
Jonesboro cut the deficit in half before the start of the fourth when Williams got a three-point play to start the final quarter, trimming Poplar Bluff's lead to 43-41.
While the Hurricanes rallied with an 11-4 run with Houston on the bench, Swift felt his team didn't take full advantage of the opportunity.
"Love the crowd. Love the tournament," Swift said. "We love coming here. It does us good every year."
Same for the Mules, who improved to 44-48 all-time in Showdown games but 4-2 in their new home after placing fourth last year.
"To even play at 7 o'clock on the last night here is special with the talent coming in --two high (Division I) players here playing and most (teams) with other kids that will play at four-year schools," Durden said. "For our guys you look at us when we walk in, we don't look like a whole lot but we're going out there competing."