Poplar Bluff, Dexter GBB out to prove themselves in SEMO Conference Tourney

Recent history shows that the girl’s basketball squads at both Poplar Bluff and Dexter High Schools have been on an trajectory upward. However, one might not realize that when they glance at the seeds doled out for the upcoming SEMO Conference Tournament.

The nine-team event will be played from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 at New Madrid County Central High School, and both the Mules and Bearcats will be climbing upward in pursuit of a tourney title.

Poplar Bluff is the number 9 seed and will open the event on Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. against No. 8 seed New Madrid County Central.

Dexter is the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3-seed Saxony Lutheran on Nov. 27 at 7 p.m.

“It is what it is,” first-year Poplar Bluff coach Soley Dugas said of the low seed. “I talked to the girls about it and explained to them that we are number nine, and not very many people expect a whole lot (from us).”

However, Dugas does, which is all that matters.

“This is our opportunity to turn some heads and prove some people wrong,” Dugas said.

Dugas (formerly Soley Webb) played for the Mules through her graduation in 2015, so she is well-acquainted with what the host Eagles will bring to the court.

“We are in a very good conference,” Dugas said. “There are a lot of talented coaches and a lot of talented girls.

“There have been competitive and dominant.”

A year ago, New Madrid County Central completed the season with just five players. However, those five girls played fiercely hard until the final buzzer of their season, which came in a (more competitive than you think) 58-44 loss at Portageville in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament, which was won by the Bulldogs.

The Eagles have eight players listed on their 2023-24 roster, but five are freshmen.

“I played against New Madrid,” Dugas said, “and they have always been pretty athletic. “We’re going to have to make sure that we make good decisions with the ball and playing to our strength.”

Dugas said her team, which has seven seniors, actually lacks experience. The lone Mule senior to have varsity experience, according to Dugas, is guard Kennedy Zgaynor, who is a 5-foot-6 point guard.

Zgaynor led the Mules with 12 points in a 56-47 season-opening loss to West County on Saturday in the AMPED Lifestyle Shootout at the Farmington Civic Center.

“We’re not the most talented team,” Dugas said. “And we’re not the most experienced team. On paper, it seems like (we are experienced), but in reality, we are a young team.”

Over the past three seasons, Poplar Bluff has climbed from three victories in 2020-21 to eight wins (2021-22), to 12 victories last season. Likewise, the Bearcats have evolved from five wins (in 2019-20) to nine (2020-21) to 13 (2021-22) to 14 last year.

Numbers aren’t an issue for veteran Bearcat coach Eric Sitze, who has 16 players at the high school level, including seniors Abbie Lloyd and Allison Turnbo, as well as junior Kate Nichols.

Nichols was an All-SEMO Conference selection a year ago while she and Turnbo each were named to the All-Class 4 District 1 Tournament Team last season.

The SEMO Conference Tournament will be the season-opening game for the Bearcats.