Tough loss

SHS drops hard fought game to Poplar Bluff

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs played the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules nearly point-for-point on Thursday night, with the exception of a three minute stretch at the end of the third quarter. It was that stretch that sealed the Lady Bulldogs' fate, however, as Sikeston dropped a SEMO Conference contest 55-49 to Poplar Bluff.

"Our girls went tooth and nail with them until the final buzzer," said Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff. "We did an exceptional job. We switched up our defenses throughout the game and it gave Bluff problems. But we missed a lot of easy stuff and Bluff did an excellent job of finding their hot three-point shooter and at times we didn't find her."

Trailing 33-31 after a Tanesha Pulley stick back, Poplar Bluff finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back baskets from Chelsea Darnell on offensive rebounds. A three-pointer from the Lady Mules' Danielle Farmer then gave Poplar Bluff a 42-31 lead at the end of the third quarter. Farmer hit five three-pointers in the game and led all scorers with 21 points.

Sikeston didn't quit however, and began battling back in the fourth quarter. After a basket on an offensive rebound from Pulley cut the Poplar Bluff lead to 50-44, senior Quesha Howard stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for a layup and foul. After Howard's free throw, Sikeston trailed 50-47 with 1:47 to play.

Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, Poplar Bluff hit five-of-eight free throws to finish out the game and drop Sikeston's record to 10-5 on the season.

"(Poplar Bluff) was able to get to the free throw and we did have to foul, but our girls hit clutch shots when we needed them," Schonhoff said. "Our crowd was a big part in encouraging the girls and helped give them that extra juice."

Sikeston fell behind 10-2 early but battled back to take a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter following a Howard layup with 30 seconds left in the frame.

The two teams battled point-for-point in the second quarter until Farmer drained a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the half to give Poplar Bluff a 26-23 lead, before Pulley added a late basket to make the halftime score 26-25 in favor of the Lady Mules.

Pulley finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Bulldogs while Tyangela Gibson finished with 11 points. Blissett finished the game with six points, seven rebounds and five assists while Howard added nine points and four rebounds.

"(Tanesha's) been working harder in practice and had some good games," Schonhoff said of his senior post player. "She's been playing well lately and against teams that don't have a post person to handle her, we need to get the ball into her and that opens up our outside game."

Sikeston forced Poplar Bluff (10-6) into an uncharacteristic 27 turnovers in the contest thanks in large part to the Lady Bulldogs changing defenses at different stages of the game.

"We needed to try and do something different," Schonhoff said. "We've been working on it for about a week now and I thought we did well with it. I thought it saved us throughout the game."

Sikeston will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Kennett.

Poplar Bluff 12 14 16 13 -- 55

Sikeston 13 12 6 18 -- 49

POPLAR BLUFF (55) -- Chelsea Darnell 7, Kelsey Bates 9, Danielle Farmer 21, Sara Eyler 6, Marissa Webb 2, Cassidy Harris 6, Courtney Raulston 2, Samantha Gatewood 2. FG 18, FT 13-23, F 12. (3-pointers: Farmer 5, Bates 1. Fouled out: none).

SIKESTON (49) -- Tyangela Gibson 11, Keyonna Blissett 6, Quesha Howard 9, Tanesha Pulley 18, Yalanda Johnson 4, Danika Garmon 1. FG 19, FT 10-15, F 20. (3-pointers: Gibson 1. Fouled out: Blissett).

Junior Varsity

Poplar Bluff won the junior varsity game 31-19.

Sikeston fell behind 10-2 after one and trailed 15-9 at halftime before the Lady Mules pulled away in the second half.

Poplar Bluff 10 5 11 5 -- 31

Sikeston 2 7 3 6 -- 19

POPLAR BLUFF (31) -- Makala McCauley 2, Soley Webb 7, Halle Huffman 3, Ranetta Taylor 2, Kaitlyn Bratcher 1, Cassidy Harris 8, Courtney Raulston 3, Samantha Gateway 5. FG 13, FT 5-18, F 14. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out:none).

SIKESTON (19) -- Dominique Roach 2, Amber Lewis 1, Chazeton Redd 1, Curtye Davis 4, Devita Miller 1, Mikala Nichols 4, Ariana Beard 5. FG 6, FT 6-18, F 16. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none).