Sitting at 4-4, the host Mules enter the 31st annual Poplar Bluff Showdown basketball tournament wanting to show they're better than that record might indicate.
"Our record is a little so-so but I feel like it really doesn't show our improvement we've made since the start of the season," Poplar Bluff senior Adrian Webb said. "I think offensively and defensively we've gotten better."
Coming off consecutive losses by single digits with a five-point loss to open the SEMO Conference Tournament, Poplar Bluff could easily have a better record, said Mules coach William Durden.
"I'm a super-competitive guy and I hate to lose but it's probably the best I've felt going into Christmas in the last two years," Durden said. "As a staff, we feel pretty good about our team."
The Mules will be tested three times in a Showdown that starts Wednesday and features five teams that won 20-plus games last year, including a defending state champion and two quarterfinalists.
After winning the Showdown title last season, Jonesboro (Ark.) went on to finish 32-0 as the 6A champion.
The Hurricanes (7-1) return to Poplar Bluff to defend their title led by University of Arkansas signee Desi Sills.
Tennessee teams Cordova and Humboldt are also back while Christian County (Ky.) returns for the first time since winning the 1998 Showdown. Christian Brothers College of St. Louis makes its second appearance after placing third in 2014 while Bradley Tech of Milwaukee and Fayetteville (Ark.) are making their first trip to Poplar Bluff.
"I think overall, top to bottom, it's pretty good," Durden said of the field.
The eight teams in the Showdown last year went on to finish a combined 180-53 with two state championships.
This Showdown tips off at 4 p.m. Wednesday with Cordova playing Bradley Tech. Jonesboro will face Christian County (Ky.) in a matchup of former Showdown champs at 5:30 p.m. followed at 7 by the Mules playing Fayetteville. The final opening-day game features CBC against Humboldt.
Semifinals are Thursday night with the championship set for 7 p.m. Friday at the Senior High Gym.
"Great competition for us," Durden said. "I think our kids are playing pretty good against better competition, which is great, and they're competing."
Putting the bracket together is always a challenge, Durden said, and this year "there wasn't a good draw."
Last year, the Mules opened with unbeaten Humboldt and won 84-82. The Vikings didn't lose again until the state quarterfinals by three points, ending with a 31-2 record.
The Mules open against a Fayetteville team that has wins over Missouri teams Springfield Kickapoo and Lafayette-Wildwood. The Bulldogs, known as the Purple Dogs, finished 12-15 last year but won their final six conference games and return one of the top scoring guards in 6-foot-1 junior Collin Cooper.
Poplar Bluff's heavily recruited junior Marcedus Leech has missed the first eight games recovering from a broken leg suffered during the offseason. Leech, who only played 10 games as a sophomore due to various injuries, has averaged 20.7 points for the Mules.
"He's close," Durden said when asked for a timetable of Leech's return.
Dominique Hardimon has led the Mules in scoring at 19.8 points per game but scored just nine due to foul trouble in Poplar Bluff's 59-55 loss against state-ranked Hazelwood Central. Rodney Houston, Poplar Bluff's second leading scorer, also sat much of the game with foul trouble but sophomore Xander Martin scored a career-high 22.
"It kind of shows we're ready to go when our name is called," said Webb.
The Mules have gotten nine or more points in a game from seven different players. Perhaps more importantly, Poplar Bluff's defense has given up 54.6 points per game, 11.1 points better than last season.
"After last year we really wanted to focus on our defense," Webb said. "Everybody around here is selfless, we all care about each other, nobody cares about passing up a shot if it gets a teammate a better shot."
Poplar Bluff will play either Cordova or Bradley Tech in the second round.
The Trojans are the second Milwaukee team to play in the Showdown after Custer placed second in 2005. Tech is led by senior Mikell Cooper's 23.0 points, 5.2 assists and 4.4 steals per game.
Cordova returns for a third straight Showdown, having finished seventh each time. The Wolves went on to the sectional final last season in Tennessee, finishing 24-8. The Wolves beat Poplar Bluff for seventh in the 2015 Showdown. They return senior Tyler Harris, who is averaging 32 points and five assists per game. Harris, who is getting Division I offers, scored 54 in a game Nov. 29 and 43 six days later.
Jonesboro is also back for a third straight year having placed second in 2015 and winning the title with an 81.63 win over Vashon. The Hurricanes beat Vashon, currently ranked No. 3 in the Class 4 coaches poll, 80-71 in Jonesboro on Dec. 9. Jonesboro's lone loss was by two points at Nettleton (Ark.) on Dec. 15.
Christian County is 8-1 and ranked No. 20 in Kentucky in the preseason coaches poll coming off a 26-7 season. The Colonels reached the Sweet Sixteen at Rupp Arena in 2016, losing by three in the opening round. Through the first six games this season, senior Detorrion Ware is averaging 33.0 points per game, second best in Kentucky, after scoring 20.6 per game last season. Cory Trice recently signed to play football at Purdue.
CBC coach Justin Tatum last brought his team to Poplar Bluff in 2014 when the Cadets were coming off a state title the previous season. Last year, CBC was knocked out in the MSHSAA Class 5 quarterfinal by eventual state champion Webster Groves and ended up 20-10.
CBC is 3-4 having lost to Memphis East, the top-ranked team in the nation by USA Today, Springfield Lanphier, ranked third in Illinois Class 3A, St. Mary's, the top-ranked team in Missouri's Class 4, and rival SLUH by two points. The Cadets beat East St. Louis (Ill.), No. 5 in the 3A rankings, by 13 and are led in scoring by Caleb Love's 15.8 points.
"We always know the Showdown is going to be tough but we're more focused on us," Webb said. "Can't really worry about everybody else."
Admission is $7 per day for four games.