PB Showdown Day 3

The Soldan Tigers celebrate their championship at the 24th Poplar Bluff Showdown on Thursday night, Dec. 30, 2010, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (DAILY AMERICAN REPUBLIC/Brian Rosener)

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Soldan literally stole the 24th Poplar Bluff Showdown title.

The Tigers scored 41 points off turnovers Thursday night in the championship to beat Tupelo (Miss.) 74-52 at Peters Gym.

"It was a test for us," Soldan coach Justin Tatum said. "A lot of people told me that when you come down here you'll know the nature of your team after you leave."

The Tigers might just be state title contenders.

Soldan, from St. Louis, became the first Showdown champ from Missouri since Vashon won in 2005. The last five Missouri teams to win here went on to play for a state title.

The Tigers (10-1), who finished third in Class 4 last season, finished the three-day tournament with 42 steals and had three players with seven or more thefts. Randy Holmes and Devin Booker each had three in the final while Pete Sanders, Paul McRoberts and Aaron Dlamini each had two as Soldan forced 33 turnovers.

Sanders and Dlamini led the defensive stand, Tatum said.

"Those are our two defensive guys that get our motor started," he added. "That was their job and they did well."

McRoberts scored a game-high 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Holmes added 20 points and led with eight rebounds. Both were named to the all-tournament team.

Deontaye Ewing, an all-tournament selection, scored 19 to lead the Golden Wave (13-3).

Soldan pulled away in the second half after building a 35-26 halftime lead.

The Tigers, who led 20-15 after one quarter, hit 3 of 10 shots from 3-point range in the first half after going 0 for 16 in the semifinal and shot 57 percent from the field in the second half.

"We were looking forward to the day we'd hit some 3s," Tatum said. "We hit a couple though and that really started us off and they had to come out of that zone and started adjusting their game a little bit."

To get to the final, the Tigers had to first beat two-time defending champion Liberty Tech featuring Richmond-bound guard Kendall Anthony. In the semifinal, Soldan had to contain Hillcrest guard Kerrell Davis who has signed with Texas Southern.

Soldan edged Hillcrest 53-51 on a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds left by Holmes, a 6-4 junior. Tatum, who turned his back to the court during the first shot, was confident with his forward at the line. Holmes finished the tournament missing just one of 17 free throws.

"I couldn't look," Tatum said. "He just doesn't know how much he helped us out until he made the all-tournament team, so hopefully he'll come out a little bit."

All five starters Thursday night for Soldan were juniors and Tatum was hoping to make a return trip to Poplar Bluff next year.

Hillcrest 77, Imagine Prep 44

Kerrell Davis scored a tournament-high 28 to lead the Vikings to third place.

Hillcrest (13-1) had more assists (10) than turnovers (8) and outrebounded Imagine Prep 50-34 led by Darius McGoughy's 11.

Davis, who hit 10 of 24 shots from the field, had four assists and four steals. He finished a point behind Liberty's Kendall Anthony for the scoring leader of the tournament.

Hillcrest led 17-8 after one quarter and by 21 at halftime.

Martavian Payne led the Bears with 17 points while Otha Jones had a double-double of 11 points and a tournament-high 19 rebounds. Jones averaged 13.7 rebounds during the tournament.

Liberty Tech 74, Overton 42

The Crusaders scored 37 points off turnovers by picking up 18 steals and rolled to fifth place after winning the Showdown each of the last two years.

Kendall Anthony, a three-time all-tournament selection, scored 16 points on 8 of 14 shooting and had team highs with six assists and four steals. DeAndre Barnette had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Crusaders (12-2).

Darrius White and Alfonso Wilson led Overton (8-7) with 10 points each.

Liberty Tech trailed 10-8 after one quarter but led 25-20 at halftime before going on a 17-5 run to start the second half.

Davis averaged 20.3 points, 4.3 steals and 4.3 assists while hitting 21 of 22 free throws.

White was also named to the all-tournament team after averaging 17.3 points and 3.3 assists.

The Showdown is sponsored by First Midwest Bank and 54 local businesses.

7th place: Poplar Bluff 58, North Pulaski 48

5th place: Liberty Tech 74, Overton-Memphis 42

3rd place: Hillcrest 77, Imagine Prep 44

Championship: Soldan 74, Tupelo 52

Read about Day 2 here.

Read about Day 1 here.

All-Tournament Team

Kendall Anthony, Liberty Tech

Kerrell Davis, Hillcrest

Jake White, Poplar Bluff

Deontaye Ewing, Tupelo

Randy Holmes, Soldan

Paul McRoberts, Soldan

Darrius White, Overton

UPDATES

Poplar Bluff 58, North Pulaski (Ark.) 48

Game 1 is about to tipoff. These two teams met last year in the opening round of the Showdown with the Mules winning in overtime. Poplar Bluff will try to avoid an 0-3 Showdown for the first time since 2008. The Falcons were seventh last year and are led by Dayshawn Watkins who is averaging 15.0 points during the tournament, seventh best.

The Falcons took an 11-9 lead into the second quarter but the Mules put together a 14-3 run to go up 10.

The surge started when North Pulaski got into foul trouble with Michael Cross, who has averaged 10 points in the tournament, picking up his third foul. Rhys Griffith later got a one-and-one, hitting both for a 14-13 lead with 4:43 left in the half. Griffith canned a 3 from the left corner and, following a Falcon free throw, Ike Anders hit a 3 from the same spot for a 20-14 lead. Jake White later scored off an inbound pass and Anders hit a 3 from the right corner with 1:24 left for a 10-point lead.

The Mules lead 28-18 at halftime.

Poplar Bluff has hit 4 of 7 3-point shots but is 33.3 percent from inside the line. The Falcons have hit 7 of 10 shots but have nine turnovers.

Mules lead 38-28 after three quarters.

Poplar Bluff pushed the lead to 12 midway through the quarter but Dayshawn Watkins hit a fastbreak laying with 1:11 left to set the margin heading to the fourth.

Mules lead 46-37 with 3:30 left after margin was cut to five early in the fourth. In their two previous games this week, the Mules gave up a 10-point lead in the fourth and gave up a 13-0 run.

Spoke too soon? Mules took a quick 3 and missed then put the Falcons on the free-throw line for three shots, hitting three to pull within 49-43 with 1:57 left.

Down to 4 but Anders breaks press and gets to line with 1:18 left, sinking one for a 50-45 lead. Marcus Williams flies to the hoop to pull the Falcons within three, timeout with 1:08 left, Mules ball.

Mules turn the ball over on the inbound as it rolls out of bounds. Shyheim Barron hits 1 of 2 free throws before McCain sinks 2 with 38 seconds left.

Williams has a 3 from the corner rattle in and out and Jake White sinks 2 free throws with 23.5 seconds left to go up 54-48.

White gets another rebound with 3.8 seconds left and Mules up 6.

FINAL, Mules sank 7 of 8 free throws over final 1:18 to hold on.

Imagine Prep 8 13 12 11 -- 44

Hillcrest 17 25 7 28 -- 77

IMAGINE PREP FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Clark 3-10 1-2 1 1 8

Payne 7-25 0-0 4 3 17

Johnson 3-7 0-2 3 0 6

Jones 5-9 1-4 19 0 11

Davis 1-5 0-0 4 0 2

Petty 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Herndon 0-1 0-0 1 1 0

Coleman 0-3 0-0 1 1 0

Dillard 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Taylor 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 19-62 2-8 34 6 44

3-point goals: 4-23 (Clark 1-4. Petty 0-1. Payne 3-13. Johnson 0-2. Coleman 0-1. Davis 0-2.) Turnovers: 17. Steals: 3 (Jones. Davis. Dillard.) Blocks: 1 (Jones.) Points off turnovers: 2. Offensive rebounds: 11 (Jones 7.) Second-chance points: 11. Total fouls: 17.

HILLCREST FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Lewis 3-7 1-1 0 0 6

Abrams 2-9 0-0 3 1 5

Ivy 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Reynolds 1-2 0-0 7 0 3

Rias 2-3 0-2 7 1 4

Miller 2-5 0-1 2 0 5

Watkins 2-4 0-0 0 0 6

Davis 10-24 3-3 2 4 28

KeaThreatt 0-1 2-4 2 0 2

KenThreatt 1-4 0-0 2 0 2

McGoughy 3-10 1-6 11 4 7

Waters 2-3 0-0 5 0 4

Gaines 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Howell 0-1 2-2 3 0 2

Totals 28-73 9-19 50 10 77

3-point goals: 12-33 (Miller 1-4. Watkins 2-4. Lewis 2-4. Abrams 1-6. Davis 5-12. KeaThreatt 0-1. McGoughy 0-1. Reynolds 1-1.) Turnovers: 8. Steals: 10 (Davis 4.) Blocks: 6 (Waters 4.) Points off turnovers: 27. Offensive rebounds: 23. Second-chance points: 19. Total fouls: 8.

Tupelo 15 11 18 8 -- 52

Soldan 20 15 22 17 -- 74

TUPELO FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Coleman 2-3 2-2 1 1 6

Brooks 4-7 0-0 3 1 9

Ewing 6-8 4-9 0 0 19

Butler 1-4 0-0 5 3 3

Wilson 0-1 0-0 2 1 0

Jones 1-1 1-3 3 0 3

Garmon 1-3 0-0 1 0 2

Gary 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Reno 1-5 3-5 2 0 8

Hamilton 1-2 0-0 4 0 2

Carruthers 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Witherspoon 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Foster 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 18-33 10-19 21 6 52

3-point goals: 6-13 (Garmon 0-2. Reno 1-3. Brooks 1-3. Ewing 3-3. Butler 1-2.) Turnovers: 33. Steals: 8 (Butler 3.) Blocks: 1 (Hamilton.) Points off turnoves: 13. Offensive rebounds: 5 (Hamilton 2.) Second-chance points: 7. Total fouls: 23. Fouled out: Brooks.

SOLDAN FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Sanders 1-10 5-7 1 3 8

McRoberts 10-14 1-2 7 4 23

Holmes 6-9 8-9 8 2 20

Dlamini 2-4 1-2 3 3 5

Griffin 3-5 0-1 6 2 6

Craig 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Booker 3-9 1-2 2 0 8

King 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Robinson 0-0 0-0 2 0 0

Muhammad 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Shelton 1-1 0-1 2 0 2

Totals 27-53 16-24 30 14 74

3-point goals: 4-16 (Sanders 1-7. McRoberts 2-4. Booker 1-5.) Turnovers: 21. Steals: 14 (Booker 3. Holmes 3.) Blocks: 1 (Holmes.) Points off turnovers: 41. Offensive rebounds: 14 (Griffin 5.) Second-chance points: 10. Total fouls: 23. Fouled out: Sanders. Shelton. Technical: Griffin.

Overton 10 10 7 15 -- 42

Liberty Tech 8 19 27 20 -- 74

OVERTON FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Williams 0-0 0-0 1 1 0

Jennings 0-3 0-0 1 1 0

DeVine 1-5 0-0 2 2 2

Fox 1-3 0-0 5 0 2

Davis 3-4 0-0 5 0 7

DColeman 0-1 0-0 4 0 0

White 3-11 2-2 2 3 10

Cleveland 0-2 2-2 0 1 2

Pride 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Brewster 0-4 1-4 2 1 1

Wilson 4-7 1-1 5 0 10

Norman 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

LColeman 1-3 0-1 1 0 2

Jones 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

Williams 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Totals: 16-46 6-10 29 9 42

3-point goals: 4-17 (White 2-8. Cleveland 0-2. Jennings 0-1. DeVine 0-2. Wilson 1-2. Davis 1-2.) Turnovers: 30. Steals: 7 (Jennings 2.) Blocks: 1 (Cleveland.) Points off turnovers: 11. Offensive rebounds: 7 (DColeman 2. Wilson 2.) Second-chance points: 8. Total fouls: 14.

LIBERTY TECH FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Anthony 8-14 0-0 2 6 16

Yeates 1-4 0-0 1 1 2

Day 2-5 0-0 1 2 4

Barnette 5-9 5-6 8 1 15

Bobo 2-7 1-2 6 1 5

Douglas 1-3 0-0 1 1 2

Hill 0-1 0-0 3 2 0

Arnold 3-6 4-4 4 1 11

Graham 1-3 0-0 4 2 2

Gause 2-5 0-0 1 1 4

Crisp 1-1 0-0 1 0 2

Reams 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Smith 5-6 1-2 4 0 11

Tucker 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Totals: 31-65 11-14 36 18 74

3-point goals: 1-11 (Arnold 1-1. Anthony 0-2. Douglas 0-2. Yeates 0-1. Graham 0-1. Day 0-2. Gause 0-2.) Turnovers: 14. Steals: 18 (Anthony 4.) Blocks: 3 (Smith 2.) Points off turnovers: 37. Offensive rebounds: 13 (Barnette 5.) Second-chance points: 17. Total fouls: 15.

Poplar Bluff 9 19 10 18 -- 56

North Pulaski 11 7 10 20 -- 48

POPLAR BLUFF FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Griffith 2-4 2-2 0 1 8

Griggs 1-3 2-2 3 1 4

McCain 0-5 3-4 1 6 3

Shrum 1-2 2-4 4 1 4

White 4-11 9-11 8 0 18

Rathbun 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Patterson 0-1 0-0 1 0 0

Bloodworth 2-4 1-2 2 0 5

Anders 3-9 5-6 5 1 14

Totals 13-39 24-31 24 10 56

3-point goals: 6-13 (Griffith 2-3. Griggs 0-2. McCain 0-2. Anders 3-5. White 1-1.) Turnovers: 12. Steals: 4 (McCain. Anders. Shrum. White.) Blocks: 1 (Bloodworth.) Points off turnovers: 7. Offensive rebounds: 13 (White 4.) Second-chance points: 15. Total fouls: 12.

N.PULASKI FG-A FT-A REB AST PTS

Barron 1-1 2-4 0 1 4

Watkins 5-15 3-3 6 4 14

Cross 2-4 1-2 2 0 6

Colson 3-5 0-0 3 0 6

Hollis 1-2 0-0 4 0 2

Davis 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Spicer 1-3 1-2 2 0 3

Williams 4-6 4-4 3 0 13

Mouton 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Allen 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals: 17-36 11-15 20 5 48

3-point goals: 3-13 (Watkins 1-7. Spicer 0-1. Williams 1-1. Cross 1-3. Colson 0-1.) Turnovers: 13. Steals: 7 (Watkins 2. Cross 2.) Blocks: 4 (Barron. Watkins. Spicer. Hollis.) Points off turnovers: 18. Offensive rebounds: 8 (Wiliams 2. Colson 2.) Second-chance points: 11. Total fouls: 24.