CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Kiley Bess was sick, Doni Everts hurt. But the pair came up with key plays when Poplar Bluff needed them most Thursday night.
Bess sank two free throws to break a tie with 66 seconds left and hit two more after Everts rebounded a missed foul shot by Bess as the Mules beat Cape Central 57-51 to opened SEMO Conference play on the road.
"Kiley is sick as a dog. Doni is hurt, she got pummeled over at Hoxie, got a couple of others that are sick. We're just fighting through right now," Mules coach John David Pattillo said.
Bess outscored Cape Central 11-7 over the final 5 1/2 minutes, scoring all of Poplar Bluff's points until a last-second layin by Hannah Corcimiglia set the final score. Bess finished with a game-high 27 points for the Mules (9-4, 1-0 SEMO).
"She's trying her best to be on the court, we're all pretty sick but we're trying our hardest," said Poplar Bluff's Katie Pattillo, who scored a career-high eight points.
Shelby Sievers had 17 rebounds and five steals to go with seven points while Everts had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Mules.
Yienvi Johnson led Central (4-5, 0-1) with 20 points and 17 rebounds off the bench. Corrie Reece added 11 points, tying the game with 1:20 to play by splitting two foul shots after a steal by Johnson.
Bess broke the 50-all tie with two free throws and Hannah Bass rebounded a missed 3-pointer by the Tigers. After taking off 20 seconds, Bess was sent to the free-throw line where the sophomore sank the first but missed the second. Everts came away with the rebound and reset the offense before Bess was fouled with 20.1 seconds left.
The Mules led 55-50 after Bess knocked down both foul shots and Corcimiglia scored off a pass from Sievers to break Central's press in the closing seconds.
"All in all I thought we played pretty good," Coach Pattillo said.
The Tigers scored nine straight points midway through the second half to tie the game at 44-all with just under six minutes remaining.
Bess answered with a turn-around jumper in the post and scored in transition after an outlet pass by Sievers off a rebound. Neither team scored for two minutes until Bess hit a runner in the middle for a 50-45 lead.
Reece answered in the post but missed a foul shot for a three-point play. The Tigers, however, came away with the rebound and Pattillo fouled out as Johnson sank two free throws to make it a one-point game with just under two minutes to play.
"We just needed to get in our mindset and really step up our game because we can do better," Katie Pattillo said. "We're a good team when we talk to each other, help each other out."
The Mules scored the first nine points of the game and led 13-2 before Central got its first shot from the field to fall. Poplar Bluff took a 15-7 lead into the second quarter but didn't score over the next four minutes.
The Tigers put together a 15-3 run to pull ahead. Johnson gave Central its first lead at the foul line with 4:38 left in the half.
Sierra Sievers put the Mules back in front off a pass from Bass. It was Poplar Bluff's first field goal in 5 1/2 minutes.
Johnson answered with a three-point play on a putback and later had another putback off a missed free throw for a 22-18 Central lead.
"You could see it in our faces, we looked dead, we looked off." Coach Pattillo said. "We've got sickness running through us and injuries but we fought through it."
The Mules finished the half with a 6-0 spurt as Everts scored in the post, Bess got a steal and scored before setting up Everts for a layin in the closing seconds for a 26-24 halftime lead.
Poplar Bluff led 37-30 after a putback by Everts, a steal by Shelby Sievers and a basket by Bess off an inbound pass midway through the third. Katie Pattillo later sank 3 of 4 foul shots to give the Mules a 44-35 advantage in the final minute of the quarter.
"We've got to step up and start making some plays and get some more done to keep ourselves in games and extend our lead," said Coach Pattillo.
"We've got a lot more upside than I think our girls expect sometimes," he later said. "I want them to expect more and expect more out of themselves. Really start getting to the point where we're ready to compete."
NOTES
Poplar Bluff won the junior varsity game 39-38 with a late rally. Corcimiglia, who led with nine points, sank a game-tying 3 with 25.7 seconds left. Abby Turner sank two free throws and got a steal in the closing seconds. Zoe Savat and Cali King each scored eight points for the Mules, who were 9 of 12 at the foul line in the final quarter. ... Poplar Bluff's record for rebounds in a game is 21 held by Mary Kalich (1990) and Rene Brown (1981). ...The Tigers, who shot 33.3 percent from the field, missed 12 foul shots but were plus-9 in rebounding and scored 16 second-chance points. ...The Mules travel Monday to Park Hills Central, ranked No. 10 in the Class 3 of the state coaches poll.