HIGHLAND, Ill. --Playing two of the top three teams in Illinois, the Poplar Bluff boys basketball team suffered a pair of blowout losses Friday and Saturday.
The Mules lost 66-44 to Chicago Curie at Paducah, Kentucky on Friday night then lost 68-51 to Belleville West at Highland, Illinois on Saturday.
"I think Curie is probably better but E.J. (Liddell of West) is the real deal," Mules coach William Durden said. "They have a better player but Curie maybe overall is the better team."
Liddell, a highly-recruited 6-foot-7 junior, led the Maroons with 26 points and nine blocks.
On Friday, the Mules faced the second-ranked team in 4A, the largest class in Illinois, in Curie at the Mustang Madness at McCracken County High School in Paducah. Poplar Bluff faced Liddell and third-ranked Belleville West on Saturday, 18 1/2 hours later.
"We play those games to help us later in the year," Durden said. "I'd rather struggle against two of the top teams than play a bad team."
The Mules were invited to the shootouts to showcase highly-recruited junior Marcedus Leech, but the guard has not played this season recovering from a broken leg.
Still, the Mules were able to win at Corinth, Mississippi in November, nearly knocked off state-ranked Hazelwood Central in another showcase event in Waynesville, Missouri and won the Poplar Bluff Showdown for just the third time in 31 years.
Poplar Bluff (7-7) lost its third straight after starting the week with an overtime loss Tuesday at Farmington.
"We probably picked the worst two games of the year to shoot that bad," Durden said.
The Mules didn't sink a 3-pointer in a game for the first time this season Saturday after just two the previous night while shooting a combined 55.2 percent at the foul line.
"We shot it bad," Durden said. "Even from the free-throw line. We didn't shoot it very good. We'll have to figure things out."
Poplar Bluff never led Friday against Curie then after a 160-mile drive north Saturday morning to the Highland Shootout, the Mules fell behind for good in the second quarter.
Dominique Hardimon scored 13 of Poplar Bluff's 15 first-quarter points Saturday and finished with 27. The junior, however, was scoreless in the second quarter when West (14-1) outscored Poplar Bluff 20-5.
Rodney Houston and Joseph Hardimon each scored nine points in the loss while Nik Rowland scored four before fouling out for a third straight game.
Dominique Hardimon scored a game-high 18 Friday to lead the Mules while Houston added eight, Joseph Hardimon six and Tyler Cline five.
Curie opened the game with three 3-pointers, including consecutive 3s by Maurice Commander for a quick 9-0 lead. Commander, who ended up with five 3s for 15 points, sank his third before the Mules had any kind of shot from the field find the net.
Poplar Bluff trailed 14-1 before Joseph Hardimon's three-point play at 4:05 of the opening quarter.
The deficit for the Mules was 21-6 heading into the second quarter but they scored five straight points to get within 10. Later with 2 1/2 minutes left in the half, Houston's layin and two free throws by Dominique Hardimon got Poplar Bluff within 30-24.
Curie ended the half with a 6-2 spurt for a 36-26 halftime lead then doubled the margin by the start of the fourth.
"To beat a good team like that you've got to make some shots," Durden said.
Poplar Bluff led 9-6 early Saturday against the Maroons before consecutive baskets by Liddell. The teams were tied three times before West took a 17-15 lead into the second quarter.
The Maroons put together a 12-2 run starting with baskets by Liddell to build a 29-17 lead midway through the second. Poplar Bluff got within nine but entered the half trailing 35-20.
Four of Poplar Bluff's seven losses have been to ranked opponents.
The Mules are off until Friday when Poplar Bluff hosts Twin Rivers for the annual Battle of Butler County that will feature both boys and girls games. The junior varsity games will start at 4:30 p.m. with the boys in the main gym and girls in the auxiliary gym. At 6 p.m., the varsity girls will play in the main gym followed by the varsity boys game.