Richland

ESSEX – Midway through the third quarter of its varsity boys basketball game against Dexter on Monday, the Richland squad was in some degree of trouble.

The Puxico Indians are the top seed at this year’s Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. The Indians are 5-0 this season and are winning their games by an average of 26.8 points. Three of Puxico's five wins are by 35 points or more. The East Prairie Eagles, who finished second at last year's Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, are the No. 2 seed, with Dexter, Bernie, Kennett, Risco, Van Buren and Richland rounding out the top eight seeds...

The Poplar Bluff girls basketball team held its home opener on Monday — and there wasn’t much to complain about for Lady Mules fans as the team took care of Bloomfield/Richland 66-20. “We played really good defense,” Poplar Bluff coach Soley Dugas said. “We came together and communicated really well. There are just a few little things that we’ve been trying to emphasize and it goes to show that once those little things come together good things happen as it did tonight.”...

ORAN – The Bell City High School varsity boys basketball squad was, in one way, the most dangerous type of team that No. 1-seed Richland could have faced in Friday’s championship game of the Oran Invitational Tournament.

ORAN – There were two dunks by a Richland (Essex) High School athlete in the Rebels’ 72-37 romp over Westwood Baptist Academy in Thursday’s championship semifinal of the Oran Invitational Tournament at Oran High School. Neither jam was performed by the Rebel player who scored his 1,000th career point during the game or was the Richland scorer who tallied a game-high 31 points.

Stoddard County volleyball players received a lion’s share of recognition with the release of postseason honors. Leading the way is a quartet of all-state players — the Advance trio of Addi Carlton, Emma Eilers and Brogan Hawkins, plus Bernie’s Bailey Henry — who helped their teams make deep postseason runs...

The evolution of Bernie High School girl’s cross country runner Ella Harris continued in the recent MSHSAA Class 1 State Finals at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.

MARBLE HILL — The semifinals are set for the Stoddard County Activities Association volleyball tournament. Top-seeded Dexter downed No. 8 Richland 25-9, 25-6, 25-4 on Monday, while third-seeded Woodland defeated No. 6 Bloomfield 25-17, 25-22, 25‑16 later that evening. On Tuesday, No. 2 Advance beat seventh-seeded Puxico 25-15, 25-6, 25-11, and No. 5 Bell City defeated fourth-seeded Bernie 25-15, 25-13, 17-25, 25-16...