Poplar Bluff Showdown roundup: Vilonia wins on 3 at buzzer, will face NMCC for title

The first semifinal game of the championship bracket of the Poplar Bluff Showdown Friday night saw the Vilonia (Arkansas) Eagles knock off the Memphis (Tennessee) East Mustangs 50-47 with a dramatic 3-point shot at the final buzzer.

The first quarter was evenly matched, with points difficult to come by for both squads thanks to stifling defense in the lane and along the perimeter. Vilonia edged Memphis East 8-7 in the first period.

The Eagles flew in the second quarter, starting off with a 10-4 run in the first half of the period for an 18-11 lead. A flurry of 3-pointers, four in the quarter, extended Vilonia’s lead to a halftime advantage of 26 to 13.

The third quarter started with a 5-2 Vilonia run to extend their lead to 31-15, but Memphis East responded with their own 6-0 run to cut the score to 31-21. After Vilonia worked their lead back to 37-27 with ten seconds left in the quarter, the Mustangs scored four unanswered points on a technical foul followed by a buzzer-beater jump shot to end the quarter trailing 37-31.

With Vilonia up 43-37 in the fourth, they gave up a 3, then turned it over to see Memphis East hit another triple and tie it up at 43.

With the score tied at 47 with 2.5 seconds left in the game, Vilonia inbounded the ball into the hands of Lane Turner, who hit the baseline triple to give the Eagles the victory.

Dashun Spence led all scorers with 18 points, while Turner had 14, but none bigger than his buzzer-beating 3. Cassius Vaughn led the Mustangs with 15 points.

Vilonia will face New Madrid County Central at 5 p.m. Saturday for the tournament championship, while Memphis East will take on Christian Brothers College at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for third place.

The opening game, which tipped off at 4 p.m. Friday, saw the Urbana (Ilinois) Tigers defeat the Germantown (Tennessee) Red Devils 61-54 in the first of two consolations bracket games.

Germantown’s Chance Terry led all scorers with 15 points. Urbana’s leading scorer was Jaylen McElmurry, who scored 14 points, 12 of them on 3-pointers.

Germantown (7-5) had trouble scoring early, and Urbana ran out to a 9-2 lead halfway through the first. The Tigers couldn’t pull away, however, and they led 13-8 at the end of the quarter.

Urbana opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and pushed the lead to 18-8. Germantown responded with a 10-2 run to cut the score to 20-18.

The Tigers (4-6) hit two more 3-pointers, with the Red Devils making two layups, and Urbana led 26-22 at halftime.

Urbana came out in the third more dynamic on offense, using their height for rebounds on both ends of the court to extend its lead to 44-33 at the end of the quarter.

The Tigers stretched their fourth-quarter lead to 12 points, but turnovers and Germantown 3-pointers closed the final margin to seven points.

Urbana will play for the top of the consolation bracket against McCracken County at 2 p.m. Saturday, while Germantown will face Poplar Bluff for seventh place at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.