Lady Mules beat Cape Central at buzzer

Cape Central's Farzah Malik, left, knocks the ball away from Poplar Bluff's Natalie Stonecipher during the second half Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (Daily American Republic/Paul Davis)

POPLAR BLUFF -- After rallying from a 10-point deficit in the second half, the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules made a mad dash to the buzzer Thursday night at Peters Gym to complete the comeback.

Miranda Burroughs pulled down a missed free throw with 6.8 seconds to play and Poplar Bluff trailing Cape Central by a point. After a quick outlet pass to Ruthie Johnson, the speedy junior flashed up the left side then hit Dennisha Rice with a pass under the basket on the opposite post. Rice beat the buzzer and the Lady Tigers, 57-56.

There were six lead changes in the final 5 minutes, 20 seconds after the Lady Mules erased a double-digit deficit with an 18-8 run.

Johnson's two free throws tied the game at 47-47, but Central's Wendi Zickfield quickly answered off a pass from Machaela Durham. Johnson then pulled down her own rebound off a missed 3 and connected from the corner to give Poplar Bluff a 50-49 lead, the Lady Mules' first since early in the second quarter.

Chelsea Pannier's 3-pointer with 2:41 left gave Central the lead and she had a chance at a rare four-point play but missed the free throw. The Lady Tigers turned the ball over twice but Poplar Bluff couldn't capitalize and Pannier's jumper with 1:34 pushed Central's lead to four.

Johnson again connected on a 3 just 20 seconds later then pulled down a missed shot by the Lady Tigers. Tori Williams' putback with 46 seconds left gave Poplar Bluff a 55-54 lead but Pannier hit a jumper to regain the lead.

Johnson missed twice in the lane and Williams also missed a putback before a loose-ball rebound was tied up with 12.9 seconds left. Central got the ball with the possession arrow but needed to take a timeout with 8.2 seconds left as the Lady Mules trapped in the backcourt.

With 6.8 seconds left, Farzah Malik's one-and-one opportunity hit the rim and bounced high enough over Zickfield to the 5-foot-3 Burroughs.

Zickfield scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds for Central (5-5, 1-1 SEMO). Pannier added 17 points while Durham scored 10.

Johnson led Poplar Bluff with 18 points while Burroughs added 14. Williams scored nine to go with 14 rebounds for the Lady Mules (6-6, 1-0).

The fast finished was the exact opposite of the start to the game as neither team scored over the first 2 minutes and it took 4 minutes to reach 10 combined points. Poplar Bluff took a 12-10 lead into the second quarter on a jumper by Burroughs with her foot on the 3-point line.

Central opened the second quarter with a 14-2 run led by Zickfield, Pannier and Sadie Pittman, who finished with eight points. Pannier hit consecutive 3s, the second coming with 3:21 left in the half for a 24-14 Central lead.

Rice, who finished with 11 points, hit a 3 then got a steal and layin to end Central's run. Burroughs connected on a 3 in the final minute but Durham scored in the paint to give the Lady Tigers a 28-22 halftime advantage.

Central pushed the lead back to double digits early in the second half and led 39-29 after pulling down an offensive rebound off a missed free throw when Durham scored with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

Natalie Stonecipher, Poplar Bluff's lone playing senior, hit a 3 and Burroughs followed with another to start the rally for the Lady Mules. Central led 45-42 heading into the final quarter and went up five on Durham's putback but Johnson scored the next five points on a 3 and two free throws to tie the game.

Central hit 55.6 percent of its shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, but was 3-of-8 at the free-throw line and had 12 turnovers.

Poplar Bluff shot just 34.4 percent from the field, including a 8-for-23 performance from deep and missed eight free throws but outrebounded Central 36-32, including 20 offensive rebounds.

Poplar Bluff won the junior varsity game 51-17.

CAPE CENTRAL (5-5) -- Myers 0. Pittman 4 0-0 8. Malik 1 0-1 2. Pannier 7(3) 0-1 17. Zickfield 8 3-4 19. Durham 5 0-2 10. Smith 0. Totals 25(3) 3-8 56.

POPLAR BLUFF (6-6) -- Rice 5(1) 0-0 11. Pattillo 0 2-2 2. MirBurroughs 5(3) 1-2 14. Williams 3 3-8 9. RJohnson 6(3) 3-4 18. Ivie 0. Webb 0. Stonecipher 1(1) 0-1 3. Totals 20(8) 9-17 57.