Jackson, Poplar Bluff girls to meet in rivalry clash of conference hopefuls

Two teams on very different trends are set to meet on Thursday night in a battle to gain footing in the SEMO Conference standings as Jackson travels to Poplar Bluff for a major girls basketball tilt.

The visitors, Jackson, are currently on a slide in which they’ve lost three of four games.

Taking losses to Kirkwood, MICDS and the undefeated Doniphan Donettes, it’s been a rough go at it late for the Indians as they’re struggling to gain momentum.

Meanwhile, their rivals in Poplar Bluff are racking up some midseason victories with a three-game winning streak to move from a lowly 2-10 to a more confident 5-10.

Downing Naylor, Holcomb and Van Buren, the Mules have taken down some local competition and gained some fire to rekindle their SEMO Conference hopes coming down the stretch.

The two have met for some fun battles over the years. But since the graduation of Mules star Kiley Bess in 2020, Jackson’s entered a four-game winning streak in the rivalry.

That could come to a head on Thursday night as the two meet at Poplar Bluff High School with a chance to upend that Jackson winning streak.

Senior Kennedy Zgaynor has proven herself as a primary scoring option for the Mules, dropping in 22 points in the win against Holcomb and another 17 against Naylor to ignite this streak.

Seniors Abigail Wilson and Kaydence Huskey, along with junior Ireland Gowen, have provided depth scoring for Poplar Bluff as it’s turned a corner here late.

Jackson’s hands will be full if it wants to hold that group to low figures. The Mules are averaging a little over 59 points per game in the new year.

For Jackson, the weapons are present but it’s still been a battle to get the offense humming together.

In the preseason, the tandem of senior Holland Guilliams and junior Camryn Alsdorf was projected to be a key duo in determining the Indians’ destiny.

Those two combined for 38 points in Monday’s loss against Doniphan – a perfectly split 19 points each – but it didn’t come close to the firepower that the Donettes had.

While that’s held true, the Indians have been hard-pressed to find scoring deeper than that.

Lillie Cole, Katy St. John and Lilly Watkins have all made regular appearances in the box score, but it’s been a challenge to get them all clicking in the same contest.

In need of a big victory, that’s going to be the challenge for Jackson going into the Mule Barn. If it can fire up the offense, the Indians should have a solid shot at grabbing a road victory.

But the Poplar Bluff Mules won’t lay down, and that’s why they’ve won three consecutive games.

Thursday night’s SEMO Conference duel has the potential to be an intense rivalry battle, and Poplar Bluff should have aspirations to undo the four-year winning streak of Jackson.