December 28, 2017

It wasn't pretty, but the Mules found a way to hang on Wednesday night in the opening round of the 31st annual Poplar Bluff Showdown. In six trips to the free-throw line over the final 1 1/2 minutes, Poplar Bluff sank both foul shots just once. A pair of missed one-and-ones earlier didn't help matters as an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead was trimmed to three points...

It wasn't pretty, but the Mules found a way to hang on Wednesday night in the opening round of the 31st annual Poplar Bluff Showdown.

In six trips to the free-throw line over the final 1 1/2 minutes, Poplar Bluff sank both foul shots just once. A pair of missed one-and-ones earlier didn't help matters as an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead was trimmed to three points.

But the Mules took care of the ball and made enough free throws to hold off Fayetteville 66-61 at the Senior High Gym.

"Felt good. We needed a win," said Poplar Bluff senior Rodney Houston, who had key putback with just under two minutes remaining.

The Mules (5-4) won the opener at the Showdown for a second straight year after placing fourth. To reach the final for a ninth time, Poplar Bluff must get past Cordova (Tenn.) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The other semifinal features defending champion Jonesboro (Ark.) and CBC of St. Louis.

"When you win the first one you still got a lot more tough teams to play," said Houston who led with 19 points.

Dominique Hardimon added 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds while freshman Joseph Hardimon matched his career high with 13 points. Tyler Cline sank a pair of 3-pointers for eight points while Nic Rowland chipped in six points, including 3 of 4 free throws in the final 18 seconds.

Collin Cooper scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Bulldogs (5-5).

Poplar Bluff led by three after the teams traded free throws and Houston was sent to the foul line with 70 seconds remaining. The senior split two shots but Adrian Webb rebounded a miss at the other end and started a fastbreak. Houston, who had seven rebounds, came away with Rowland's miss in transition and was sent to the line with 38 seconds left as Cooper fouled out.

Houston sank his first free throw but crossed the foul line early for a violation.

Webb again got a rebound off a Fayetteville miss and split two foul shots with 26 seconds to play for a 63-57 lead.

In all, the Mules missed 17 foul shots, hitting half of 34 attempts after coming in shooting 66.4 percent as a team.

"We have to get better at that," Mules coach William Durden said. "We're going to have to make some free throws."

Said Houston, who was 4 of 14, "I've got to get on the line in practice."

The Mules led 28-23 at halftime and used a 14-4 run to lead by 15 following Webb's 3 with 1:24 to go in the third quarter.

Cline started it with a 3 while Joseph Hardimon sank another a minute later. The freshman scored on a drive before Houston's putback gave the Mules a 43-30 lead. Fayetteville had two baskets over a stretch of six minutes that featured four turnovers by the Bulldogs.

"We got a lot of stops in the third quarter," Houston said. "Defense leads to offense."

Poplar Bluff took a 49-35 lead into the fourth quarter and led by 15 before Cooper, who had just six points to that point, led a charge for the Bulldogs.

The 6-1 junior hit consecutive 3s to start the fourth and later added another following a steal by Frank Morgan to cut Poplar Bluff's lead to 51-46 with 5 1/2 minutes left. Another steal by the Bulldogs led to Cooper's layin to cut the margin to three and cap a 13-2 run.

"We're struggling this year when other teams kind of get in panic mode -- when they have to press a little harder, when they have to play a little hard and they have nothing to lose --we start struggling," Durden said.

Joseph Hardimon answered with a drive to the basket and his older brother got a putback at the midway point of the fourth for a 55-48 lead.

Fayetteville's R.J. Johnson sank a 3 with 2:13 to play, cutting Poplar Bluff's lead to 57-54 but the Mules broke the press with Joseph Hardimon bringing the ball upcourt and Houston scored off his own miss.

"He's still a freshman, still makes freshman mistakes," Durden said of the younger Hardimon. "But physically he should be able to help take care of the ball and hopefully the more reps he gets the better he'll get at it."

The Mules led 16-13 after one quarter led by Hardimon's six points. But they managed just one basket over a five-minute stretch in the second quarter. Fayetteville got within a point twice and missed chances to pull ahead before consecutive baskets by Dominique Hardimon and Houston gave the Mules a five-point halftime lead.

Coming off consecutive losses by a total of 10 points, Poplar Bluff improved to 3-3 in games decided by single digits.

"Hopefully we're going to try to figure out a way to win a close game," Durden said. "We gave away three or four this year, about time we actually went and won."

Mike Kilgore won $500 during halftime after sinking a layup, a free throw, a 3-pointer and a half-court shot in under 45 seconds in an event sponsored by Poplar Bluff Realty. Kilgore, now head coach at South Pemiscot and a former assistant coach for the Mules, shares the record for most points by a Poplar Bluff player in the Showdown with 36 in 1998.

The tournament is sponsored by First Midwest Bank among 40 area businesses.

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