C6D1 girls: Oakville wins in OT, ends Lady Mules' season

ARNOLD, Missouri — After a quick turnaround to a solid season, the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules’ run came to an end in an overtime thriller.

In a back-and-forth contest that came down to the wire, Oakville successfully took down the Lady Mules 49-48 to advance to the semifinals in the MSHSAA Class 6 District 1 tournament Thursday night.

“I’m proud of the girls, and how much they’ve gotten better,” Poplar Bluff coach John David Pattillo said. “To start out the year as we did, we came back and turned our season around, and I will forever love this group. Oakville does a really good job in their matchup, and it made it tough for us to score, so credit to them as well.”

Both teams started with a defensive game plan, making the first half a low-scoring matchup. The Lady Mules came out full of energy, knocking down clean shots from around the perimeter and taking great strides to get to the free-throw line.

After a few trips down the court, Oakville started to find a rhythm with open shots under the basket. The Lady Mules struggled to gain any footing pulling down rebounds, and Oakville made them pay for it with multiple second-chance shots.

The Lady Mules missed the opportunity to convert much in the second quarter, and Oakville quickly took control with the pace of the game, heading into halftime with an 18-15 lead.

Though trailing at the half, the Lady Mules exploded with a 9-2 run within the first two minutes of the third, forcing Oakville to burn a timeout to regroup. Poplar Bluff continued to attack successfully, but Oakville remained close.

Despite the quick surge from the Lady Mules to end the third, Oakville stayed grounded and headed into the last period holding a 31-30 lead.

The fourth quarter came down to who wanted it more as both teams began to trade baskets. The Lady Mules slowed the game down to execute with better shots, and it worked in their favor as they had much success under the basket.

In the final two minutes, Oakville landed a big 3-pointer to take a lead, but the Lady Mules did not get rattled as they came right back with a bucket of their own to tie the game 41-41 to force overtime.

With a shot to take the game, a missed 3 in the last seconds kep the Lady Mules from extending their season and moving on to the next round.

Senior Madelyn Easds led the Lady Mules with 18 points, while Nevaeh Larkins added 13.

Pattillo said he loves to coach and having this group made this season truly special.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about anything else other than the people, the coaches, and the kids that make this job so good,” he said. “To my seniors, I hope they continue to work because they did great this year and I just hope that carries over with the younger ones.”