Mules 65, Royals 43

Here's a quick story from Friday's game, more in Sunday's DAR:

BROSELEY -- Poplar Bluff kept the Twin Rivers Royals off the scoreboard for nearly 8 minutes of the first half Friday night in winning the Battle of Butler County, 65-43.

The Mules scored 21 straight points after losing junior Jay Raulston to early foul trouble. Twin Rivers missed a free throw to tie the game midway through the first quarter and the Royals didn't score again until 5 minutes left in the half and trailed 43-19 at the break.

Riley Raulston and Eljie Johnson each scored 13 points for the Mules while Chris Kilgore added nine points and Ben Knuckles scored eight. Jay Raulston finished with seven after picking up his second foul with 4:48 left in the first quarter.

Johnson entered for Raulston and scored eight points before the end of the quarter to give the Mules an 18-6 lead.

Poplar Bluff extended its lead in the second quarter thanks to steals by Riley Raulston, Knuckles and Greg Coble. By the time Twin Rivers got two free throws from Zech Payne with 4:54 left in the half, the Royals trailed 28-8.

Kyle Oberkramer scored 13 points to lead the Royals while Brett Whitlock added 10.

Twin Rivers shot 31.2 percent from the field and was outrebounded 32-26.

Poplar Bluff scored 27 points off 24 turnovers by the Royals, who lost for the first time in three games. The Mules, who have won three straight, hit 68 percent of their shots from the field in the first half before finishing 24-for-50.

Riley Raulston had four steals, four rebounds and two blocks while hitting 4-of-6 shots from the field.

Oberkramer hit 9-of-12 free throws and had three rebounds while Cole McBroom led the Royals with four boards.

Poplar Bluff now owns a 21-9 record in the series over the last 30 years but half of the meetings have been decided by single digits.

In the junior varsity game, Jaleel Gipson scored 14 points and Jake White added 12 to lead Poplar Bluff to a 67-40 win.

Jacob Whitlock scored 14 and Cole McBroom added 12 to lead the Royals, who trailed 17-8 after the first quarter and 34-23 at halftime.

Poplar Bluff 18 25 15 7 -- 65

Twin Rivers 6 13 8 16 -- 43

POPLAR BLUFF -- Knuckles 2 4-8 8. Kilgore 3 3-6 9. JRaulston 3 1-4 7. Bullington 0 1-2 1. RRaulston 4 5-6 13. Gipson 0. Coble 2 1-2 5. McAnulty 1 0-0 2. SJohnson 0. Shrum 0. Marler 2(1) 0-0 5. White 1 0-2 2. EJohnson 6 1-1 13. Totals 24(1) 16-31 65.

TWIN RIVERS -- Stockton 1(1) 1-2 4. KOberkramer 2 9-12 13. Whitlock 3(2) 2-2 10. Miller 1(1) 2-2 5. Payne 2 3-5 7. Moore 0. Tinsley 1 0-0 2. Shearer 0. Boyles 0. MOberkramer 0. McBroom 0 2-2 2. Totals 10(4) 19-25 43.

JUNIOR VARSITY

Poplar Bluff 17 17 16 17 -- 67

Twin Rivers 8 15 8 9 -- 40

POPLAR BLUFF -- Gipson 6(1) 1-3 14. Griggs 3(1) 0-1 7. McCain 2(1) 1-2 6. King 0 1-2 1. McIntosh 0 2-2 2. Rushin 0. Marler 3(1) 2-2 9. Shrum 2 2-4 6. Sexton 1 0-0 2. White 5 2-3 12. McAnulty 3 0-0 6. Dorr 0. West 0. Anders 1 0-0 2. Nepean 0. McCoy 0. Jay 0. Totals 26(4) 11-19 67.

TWIN RIVERS -- Guess 0. Reed 0 1-2 1. Cook 0 0-1 0. Whitlock 3 8-10 14. McLane 2(1) 0-0 5. Bland 1 1-2 3. Jones 0. Morse 0. Litterest 2(1) 0-0 5. Baugus 0. McBroom 3 6-8 12. Labine 0. Totals 11(2) 16-23 40.