Notre Dame's Brumitt quite familiar with Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF -- Notre Dame junior Emily Brumitt is no stranger to the members of the Poplar Bluff girls basketball team, and that made Monday night's outcome an especially difficult one.

Brumitt, who grew up in Poplar Bluff before moving to Cape Girardeau before her freshman year, expects to get some ribbing from her Poplar Bluff friends.

"I'll get it because we beat them last year," she said. "They really wanted to get us."

The Mules did that, shutting out one of Notre Dame's top perimeter shooters in Brumitt en route to a 58-33 victory in a SEMO Conference meeting of two teams that were riding six-game winning streaks.

"I think they're an all-around good team," Brumitt said. "They put pressure on everybody."

One person helping coordinate the game plan for Poplar Bluff was assistant coach Stefanie Brumitt, Emily's sister-in-law who is back on Poplar Bluff's staff this season after a previous stint and then a break.

"My wife scouted them a few times and has a pretty good idea what they do," said Ben Brumitt, Emily's brother, while Notre Dame trailed by 15 at halftime. "They've been practicing on Notre Dame for a week or so to get ready."

Ben Brumitt is a 2002 Poplar Bluff graduate who played varsity basketball for the Mules for two years as a point guard. His senior season was Tyler Hansbrough's freshman year, and the Mules won a Class 4A district championship before losing 58-55 in the sectional to eventual state runner-up DeSmet.

He attended Southeast Missouri State and now is living back in Poplar Bluff. He and Stefanie Brumitt, also a former basketball player at Poplar Bluff who also coaches the junior varsity team, have been married for 2 1/2 years.

For whom was Ben rooting? "Poplar Bluff in JV; Notre Dame in varsity," he said.

"Poplar Bluff is a good defensive team," he added. "Emily has to move around a bit more."

Emily Brumitt didn't get many open looks, as Mules coach Kirk Chronister made sure his defense kept an eye on her nearly as much as it did Notre Dame's leading scorer, Jane Morrill.

"Emily is a great kid and she comes from a good family," Chronister said. "I wish her the best of luck, except when she's playing us."

Brumitt admitted it was a tough night even before tipoff.

"I was very nervous before the game," she said. "It's very nerve-racking. They're my best friends playing, so that's hard."