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Neelyville holds on to beat Lady Mules for third at Lady Royals Christmas Classic
BROSELEY — The Poplar Bluff girls basketball team tried to make a last-ditch effort to send the third-place game of the Lady Royal Christmas Classic into overtime, but the Hail Mary inbound and 3-point try fell short as Neelyville took third with a 48-45 win over the Lady Mules.
The outcome was much closer than Neelyville coach Becky Hale would’ve liked.
“It was a good thing we had a big lead,” Hale said. “We held it together just enough to pull it out.”
Over on the other bench, Poplar Bluff coach Soley Dugas was pleased to see her team’s effort despite the loss.
“Not too many coaches would be satisfied with fourth place,” Dugas said. “I know we definitely could’ve done better, but I’m real proud of the fight we showed in this tournament.”
Neelyville’s offensive effort was led by Parker Ernst,who recorded 18 points, while Haylyn Crockett scored 11 points for the Lady Tigers.
For the Lady Mules, Addy Valenzuela was the leading scorer with 12 points — going 6-for-8 from the free throw line — while Ireland Gowen and Allie Johnson recorded 10 points each and combined for 18 points in the second half.
Neelyville started out hot, going on a 10-0 run in the first five minutes and was up 13-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Tigers kept taking advantage of missed opportunities by Poplar Bluff in the second to go up 23-16 at halftime.
The Lady Mules kept playing from behind in the third as they trailed Neelyville 41-27 at the end of the third, but the momentum was starting to swing their way.
The Lady Tigers took some unnecessary fouls and Poplar Bluff went on a 12-2 run in the first five minutes of the fourth to cut the deficit to 43-39.
At the two-minute mark, Valenzuela drained a 3-point bucket to draw the Lady Mules to within one point, then Johnson put in a layup to give the Poplar Bluff its first lead of the ballgame.
As the seconds ticked away, Neelyville regained the lead, but the Lady Mules were right there and needed a last-second miracle to force the game into overtime.
With a little over a second left on the clock, Gowen played quarterback from the baseline and heaved a baseball pass to Adalyn Ordway, who then fired a 3-point shot off the catch, but the ball fell just short as the buzzer sounded.
Earlier in Saturday’s action, Malden took the consolation championship over Holcomb’s 58-47, then in the fifth-place game, Twin Rivers defended its home court with a 67-42 win over Kennett.