Many basketball tournaments will occur after the Christmas break, and the Poplar Bluff Mules will not be left out of the mix.
The Mules will host the 2023 Poplar Bluff ShowDown from December 28-30. The tournament is two weeks away, and the bracket is set with stiff competition. This will be the 36th annual Showdown, and head coach William Durden is eager to host the event.
“I’m really looking forward to the Showdown because it’s always a good tournament,” Durden said. “We usually play against teams that we may never get to play otherwise. It’s always a good test for us, allowing us to see different coaching and playing styles. It will just be some good basketball played over the Christmas break.”
The other participating schools are New Madrid, Christian Brothers, Memphis East(TN), McCracken County(KY), Vilonia(AR), Germantown(TN) and Urbana(IL).
The Mules are four-time champions (2004, 2014, 2016-17) of the tournament and placed second in 2021. Last year, the Mules struggled early to advance last season after falling to the seventh-place game after a 75-69 loss to Little Rock Christian in a consolation semifinal.
The Mules will play Memphis East High School in their first-round game at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 28. Durden said playing against Memphis East will be an interesting matchup, but he’s not too worried about playing a team for the first time. He’s familiar with Memphis schools having great athletes, so he knows it will be a battle.
“Memphis East is a good team,” Durden said. “They made a deep run in their playoffs last year, so that says a lot. We're trying to get a film and stuff on him right now just to see how well we match up with them. At this time of the year, we need to concentrate on what we're doing well and try to get better at what we're not.”
Durden said everyone can expect high-level basketball with some really good teams coming in.
Tickets are on sale in the Poplar Bluff High School Athletic Department for $8.00 per day.
The Showdown tournament is still looking for sponsors. If interested, please contact the athletic department.
Poplar Bluff Showdown Schedule
Thursday
McCracken Co. vs. Vilonia, 4 p.m.
New Madrid vs. Germantown, 5:30 p.m.
Poplar Bluff vs. Memphis East, 7 p.m.
Christian Brothers vs. Urbana, 8:30 p.m.
Friday
Consolation semifinals: 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
Winner’s semifinals: 7 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
7th Place Game: 12 p.m.
5th Place Game: 2 p.m.
3rd Place Game: 3:30 p.m.
Championship: 5 p.m.
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