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Dyersburg dominates Lady Mules
The Poplar Bluff Lady Mules endured a lopsided 65-31 loss in girls basketball to the visiting Dyersburg Lady Trojans from west Tennessee on Saturday afternoon at Mules Gymnasium.
Dyersburg ran out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter with a barrage of 3-pointers and a stifling fullcourt defense that forced Poplar Bluff into a flurry of turnovers, many of them in the Lady Mules’ own offensive zone, creating a deficit they couldn’t overcome.
The Lady Trojans built an insurmountable lead in the third quarter, and despite having its best quarter of the game in the fourth, Poplar Bluff came out of the afternoon with a tough loss to a talented team from Tennessee.
“I told them, girls, this is something that we're going to have to learn from and keep it moving,” said Lady Mules head coach Soley Dugas. “We can't let this take away from what we've been working on and what we've been progressing towards.
“Obviously, they're a really good team. It was a good challenge for us, and I thought the girls did a good job of not giving up.:
The Lady Mules fell to .500 on the season at 8-8, while Dyersburg improved its record to 17-4.
Poplar Bluff’s leading scorer was Ireland Gowen, whose 16 points was tied for the game high with Dyersburg’s Jordan Cherry.
The Lady Mules started the game in a 5-0 hole in the first 90 seconds, and things got worse for the home team after that. Poplar Bluff didn’t manage to get a field goal attempt in the first four minutes of the first quarter while Dyersburg went on a 14-0 run.
By the time Gowen hit the team’s first two points with 2:22 remaining in the quarter, Poplar Bluff was already down by 20 points, with the Lady Trojans up 28-2 at the end of the first.
Dyersburg head coach Tim Strayhorn did several total line substitutions in the second quarter, and while the Lady Mules did manage to score eight points, the Lady Trojans’ bench scored another 11 points for a 39-10 lead at halftime.
The visitors started the second half the same as the first, going on an 8-0 run before the Lady Mules could score. Dyersburg dominated the third quarter 23-5 to take a 62-15 lead into the final quarter.
With the result not in doubt and a continuous clock in the fourth, the Lady Mules outscored Dyersburg 16-3 in the final period, making the final score a bit closer than the rest of the game played out.