Cape Central, Bluff to meet in first round of conference tourney

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Following an early start to its season, the Poplar Bluff boys basketball team got a 16-day break to prepare for the SEMO Conference, which starts Monday in Sikeston.

"Honestly, it's been nice, much-needed break," Mules coach William Durden said. "The first game came a little earlier than expected and this break gave us time to work on stuff.

"Now Monday comes too quick."

The seventh-seeded Mules will face No. 3 seed Cape Central at 7 p.m. the opening round. Dexter, the No. 9 seed, opens with eighth-seeded New Madrid Central at 5:30 p.m. while second-seeded Notre Dame plays Kennett to end the first night.

Charleston, the top seed, will play the Dexter-NMCC winner at 7 p.m. Tuesday after fourth-seeded Sikeston faces fifth-seeded Jackson.

"It's one of the hardest tournaments, I think, to seed," Durden said.

While the top seed has won the last four titles, only once did the final also feature the No. 2 seed, and that was last year when Sikeston beat Cape Central 74-67.

The Mules finished third making it just the third time in the last dozen years the top three seeds ended up in correct order.

In 2014, the champion was a fifth seed as New Madrid Central beat the seventh-seeded Mules.

Being so early in the season, makes seeding the teams tough, Durden said.

This year, seven of eight coaches selected Charleston the No. 1 seed with the other two votes going to Notre Dame, which edged Cape Central for the No. 2 seed.

The Tigers (3-0) opened their season last week by winning the Fountain City Classic in De Soto, Missouri. The Tigers defeated Fox, Villa Duchesne and third-seeded Rockwood Summit in the final Saturday, a 54-51 win behind 14 points by Doreante Tucker, 11 by Tyrus Reddin and 10 by Anthony Mackins.

Meanwhile, the Mules (1-0) have been idle since a 100-74 home win over Roosevelt on Nov. 22.

Kendrick Brown scored a career-high 34 points to go with 10 rebounds and three steals in the opener. Luke Becker had 22 points and 13 rebounds while Joseph Hardimon added 21 points. The Mules compiled 28 assists and shot 53% from the floor.

While the Mules start an entirely new lineup over last year, Central returns a pair of starters -- Reddin and Tucker -- from a team that reached the MSHSAA Class 4 quarterfinals and finished 26-4.

"We're really going to have to slow them down in transition," Durden said. "...We need, as a team, to play at a pace faster than most, but also want to slow them down."

The winner will play 7:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner between Notre Dame and Kennett.

The loser plays in a consolation game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.