Mules fall in finals to Glendale

By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- After playing 88 minutes in 36 hours, the Poplar Bluff Mules ran out of gas in the second half of the championship game at Winter Classic on Saturday.

Glendale scored 49 second-half points and held off the Mules 77-70.

"Our guys played with a lot of determination, played with a winner's mentality," Mules coach Lamont Frazier said. "These guys, for three days, didn't quit. They feel a little down about the fact that they fell short."

On Friday, the Mules (11-7) beat Leavenworth, the thirdranked team in Kansas' Class 6A, 52-43, after leading by as many as 20 in the second half.

In the championship game, Riley Raulston scored 20 points for Poplar Bluff, one of five Mules to reach double figures. Chris Kilgore added 14 points, Jay Raulston scored 12 while Eljie Johnson and Jake White each chipped in 11.

Poplar Bluff held a 30-28 halftime lead after jumping out to a nine-point advantage in the first quarter.

Glendale (14-5) surged ahead in the third quarter when Casey Goss hit a 3-pointer for a 41-38 lead and Taylor Triplett followed with one of his own before scoring again after the Mules missed from long range.

The Falcons led 53-49 heading into the fourth quarter but Johnson's putback pulled the Mules to within two. A 3-pointer by White got Poplar Bluff to within three points at 60-57. But Goss answered with a 3 before White again connected for a 3-pointer with 4:43 left

Poplar Bluff missed two free throws with a chance to get closer at the 2:54 mark and Ryan Frazier gave Glendale a 67-62 lead. Following a bucket by Jay Raulston, Andrew Osborn hit the first of two free throws and Triplett pulled down the second for a rebound leading to a 3-pointer by Goss to put the Falcons up 71-64.

Glendale, which hit 13-of-14 free throws in the final quarter, held off the Mules by hitting six straight at the line in the final 2 minutes. Triplett hit 14-of-15 free throws and scored 27 points while Goss added 21 points behind five 3s.

"That's getting the ball in the right guy's hands," Frazier said.

The Mules, who won this tournament in 2006 by beating Glendale in the final, jumped out to an 11-4 lead and went up nine on Todd Bullington's putback. Glendale answered with a 7-2 run, trailing 19-13 at the start of the second quarter, before Goss hit a 3-pointer.

Glendale took the lead with just under 3 minutes left in the half but the Mules got it back in the closing seconds on Kilgore's putback at the buzzer.

The 77 points allowed was a season high for the Mules, who reached 70 for just the third time this season.

"When we get in those situations where we've got to score a lot of points we struggle," Frazier said. "If teams are scoring 77 points, we're not defending very well."

The Mules, who won a double-overtime game Thursday afternoon, played the final game Friday night, tipping off just after 8:30 p.m. before playing in the final 19 hours later.

Poplar Bluff never trailed Friday, jumping out to a 9-2 lead against Leavenworth (8-2). The Mules had a 20-10 lead by the final minute of the first quarter and gave up just two second-quarter points for a 29-12 halftime lead.

The advantage grew to as many as 20 before Leavenworth finished the game with a 20-9 run.

Kilgore scored 15 points to lead the Mules while Jay Raulston added 12 and Johnson had 10.

"I thought (Friday) night our guys made a tremendous step forward," Frazier said. "After the first game, stepping up again the next night up against Leavenworth, which is a very talented team, the guys went out and executed the gameplan as we talked about it.

"They were fun to watch."