Poplar Bluff's Jay Raulston (24) and Riley Raulston, left, battle for a rebound with Memphis Central's Jarnell Stokes (31) during the first half Friday night in the Riverbend Classic at New Madrid. (Brian Rosener/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

NEW MADRID -- Riley Raulston opened his senior year with a bang Friday afternoon at the Riverbend Classic.

Raulston scored 39 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Mules to a season-opening 70-55 win over Memphis Central.

"We just had to come out and play harder than they did," said Raulston, who topped his previous career high by 16 points.

"I feel like we wanted it more."

The Mules trailed for just a few seconds after Central, which won 22 games last season and is ranked eighth in the greater Memphis area, scored first. Raulston answered with a 3-pointer, the first of his seven, as Poplar Bluff put together a 9-0 run.

The Mules, who led by as many as 10 points in the first half, finished the game on a 15-0 run after the Warriors (1-1) pulled even with just under 4 minutes left.

"I'm very proud of our guys by the way they stepped up and played," Mules coach Lamont Frazier said. "This was a challenge for us, and I think every game we play is going to be a challenge from the standpoint of we're probably not going to be the favorite tow in most of our games. But that's OK."

Tied 55-55, Chris Kilgore scored on a spinning move in the paint to put Poplar Bluff ahead for good. Raulston followed a miss by Central with a 3-pointer from the top of the key off an inbound pass, then got a defensive rebound leading to Kilgore's reverse layin for a 62-55 lead.

Kilgore finished with 14 points and six rebounds despite giving up at least five inches in the paint.

Central's starting line featured a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards as well as 6-5 Tim Peete. A pair of 5-10 guards led the Warriors in scoring Friday as Masceo Harmon scored 21 points and Chris Sledge added nine off of the bench.

The Mules outrebounded Central 35-33.

"I told the guys coming out that there's one thing they've got to remember is that I feel like there's nobody else that's going to work harder than they do," Frazier said. "They just have to believe they can go out and just do it."

Jay Raulston, Poplar Bluff's leading scorer last season, did not hit a shot from the field for the first time in his 34-game career, but hit 5-of-7 free throws, pulled down seven rebounds and had three steals. His rebound and long outlet pass set up brother Riley's thunderous dunk in the final minute that put an exclamation point on the win.

Jake White and Todd Bullington each added four points while Ben Knuckles and Eljie Johnson each scored two points for the Mules, who gave up just six points in the final quarter.

"It was very important to come out from the offseason to see where we were," Riley Raulston said. "We've been working hard in practice these last two weeks and it finally paid off."

Kilgore closed the first quarter with a putback for a 20-12 lead and took a charge in the final seconds.

Riley pushed the lead to nine points twice early in the second but it wasn't until his free throw with 3:30 left in the half that the Mules were able to go up by double digits. It didn't last long and Central pulled to within 34-27 at the break.

The Warriors opened the second half by scoring the first six points, four on putbacks and another coming off a turnover. Riley got to the line following an offensive rebound, hitting both, before a step-back 3 gave the Mules a 39-35 lead.

Harmon's steal and layin tied the game at 44-44 but Riley set a screen at midcourt for Knuckles, who drove to the basket and found Kilgore for an easy bucket. Riley's catch-and-shoot 3 was later answered by Sledge's triple at the buzzer for a 49-49 tie after three quarters.

"We had a couple of breakdowns in the third quarter but we fought back," Riley said.

Riley's 39 points were the most by a Poplar Bluff player since Ben Hansbrough scored as many in Feb. 2006 and five shy of Tyler Hansbrough's school record.

Even though one player accounted for more than half of Poplar Bluff's points, Frazier said that was because his team played together.

"We are a team and everything we do, we're going to do as a team," Frazier said. "Guys have the opportunity to step up and have a big night just because this team put them in the position to do so.

"None of my guys is bigger than the team, that's the way we play, everybody's got a job."