Sports

Gene and Brian Bess have attended many signing ceremonies through the years welcoming players to Three Rivers College. None, however, was likely more special than Thursday afternoon when a Poplar Bluff senior chose to play for another college. Kiley Bess made it official in front of friends and family by signing her National Letter of Intent to play basketball for Saint Louis University...

A pile of uniforms and pads sits on an eight-foot table in front of a washing machine in the equipment room at Poplar Bluff High School. Instead of prepare for another shot at state-ranked Jackson in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 championship game, the Mules turned in their equipment Monday after Fox ended Poplar Bluff’s season at 4-6...

CARTERVILLE, Ill. — Playing their second-ranked opponent in a week, the Raiders got clutch plays from several players to win in overtime Wednesday night. Tallon Fonda sank nine 3-pointers and Poplar Bluff alum Dominique Hardimon grabbed a big offensive rebound with 3 seconds left in overtime and the Raiders ahead by two...

BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Three Rivers women's basketball comfortably won 96-28 against Lindwood-Belleville JV on Wednesday. “We worked on working the ball, making more than one pass and shooting it. We tried to emphasize ball reversal, making the extra pass, and they did a good job of that tonight,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. “We scored 96 points and passed the ball around 5-6 times to the open person.”...

BELL CITY — The Bell City boys basketball team hasn’t tasted victory since Feb. 24, 2017. Second-year coach Dom Johnson hopes to end the Cubs’ 43-game losing streak — according to MSHSAA.org. The Cubs went 0-20 two seasons ago and 0-22 in 2018-19. “It’s one thing we’ve talked about since we started practice,” Johnson said before practice Thursday. ...

The Dexter football team took a step back in 2019, posting a 1-8 record after reaching the Class 3 District 1 semifinals last season. However, second-year head coach Aaron Pixley sees light at the end of the tunnel. The success of the 2018 Bearcats, who finished 5-5, was based on a large senior class that came together late to make a postseason run...

Saturday is opening day of Missouri’s biggest hunting season of the year - the regular firearms deer season.

Poplar Bluff basketball fans can relive the glory days from more than three decades of boys basketball on Saturday as the first-ever Mules alumni game takes place in the E.T. Peters Gymnasium at the Poplar Bluff Middle School. The alumni event will feature two games from two eras, with players from 1987 through 2004 competing in the first matchup, followed by alumni from 2005-2019 in the second game...

The Raiders had a much-improved second half against Southeastern Iowa on Saturday, but it wasn't enough. Three Rivers trailed by 21 points at halftime and eventually lost 75-67 to go 0-2 in the 2019 Missouri/Iowa Challenge. "At halftime of the Burlington game we regrouped and I felt pretty good. I think we are making progress," Three Rivers coach Gene Bess said. "We have a lot of people who are having to make major decisions and it is taking them a while to adapt."...

CAPE GIRARDEAU — The Advance Hornets have formed a special bond over the years. That bond helped the Hornets win their second straight MSHSAA Class 1 volleyball championship Saturday at the Show Me Center. “We’ve grown up with each other and been playing together for a long time,” junior Alyssa Miles said. “I think we have a chemistry that a lot of teams struggle to get.”...

CAPE GIRARDEAU — The Advance Hornets collapsed to the floor and celebrated the moment Saturday at the Show Me Center. After all, the Hornets had completed a 25-11, 25-21 victory over Santa Fe to win their second straight MSHSAA Class 1 volleyball championship...

Dexter senior Margo Nea ran down one of her biggest goals Saturday at the MSHSAA Class 3 Cross Country Championship in Columbia. Nea won an all-state medal with a 25th-place finish at Gans Creek Cross Country Course, the new site for the state championships...

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Van Buren girls cross country team placed in the top four for the first time in program history at the MSHSAA Cross Country championships on Saturday at the new 5,000-meter Gans Creek course. Poplar Bluff junior Jaden Deaton earned all-state honors with a late comeback for 22nd place to become the fifth Mules runner to place in the top 25 at state and first since 2005...

ARNOLD, Mo. — Fox had just padded a 3-point lead with a touchdown late in the third quarter when the ensuing kickoff bounced through the hands of three Poplar Bluff players. The Warriors recovered the ball. The Mules never recovered Friday night. Fox ran for six touchdowns, scoring 14 points off turnovers, to knock out Poplar Bluff 41-25 in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 semifinal...

CAPE GIRARDEAU — The defending state champion Advance Hornets saved their best for last Friday in the MSHSAA Class 1 Volleyball Championships. The Hornets swept Billings 25-8, 25-11 to complete semifinal pool play with a 6-0 record. They had already clinched a spot in the title match, which is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, with a 25-18, 25-11 sweep of Calvary Lutheran earlier in the day.

A new era of cross country in Missouri starts Saturday when the MSHSAA state championships is held for the first time at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia. It’s the first time since 1975 the race will not be held in Jefferson City’s Oak Hills Golf Course in Hough Park where Poplar Bluff’s John Meyers won the 4A title in 1986...

The Raiders face their first big challenge of the season Friday. After beating Link Year Prep by 31 and Wabash Valley by 18 last weekend to open the season, Three Rivers will take on sixth-ranked Indian Hills (Iowa) at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by Southeastern (Iowa) in the Missouri/Iowa Challenge at State Fair Community College...

In its season-opening two games last weekend, Three Rivers scored a combined 194 points and won each by at least 34 points. Things should get more difficult this weekend. The 19th ranked Raiders host a pair of Region 24 teams in Rend Lake at 8:30 p.m. Friday and 20th-ranked Wabash Valley at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Three Rivers Classic at the Libla Family Sports Complex...

For the fifth straight year, the Poplar Bluff football team is in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 semifinal looking to reach the championship game for the first time. It’s been 19 years since the program’s last title and a decade since the Mules were runners-up in the district...

POPLAR BLUFF — After scoring four goals against Poplar Bluff in the semifinals, Northwest’s Brandon O’Dell finished with another hat trick in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 championship. He added an assist in the closing seconds as Northwest beat Jackson 7-3 on Wednesday in Poplar Bluff...

Perfect weather conditions last weekend kept young deer hunters in the woods and strong rutting activity kept deer on the move, resulting in a stellar first segment of Missouri’s youth deer season. The state’s youngest deer hunters killed 18,158 deer during the two-day season, up significantly from the 13,645 taken a year ago...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The Poplar Bluff swim team returned to the conference championships after a 13-year wait Tuesday, finishing fourth out of six teams and earning 10 top-10 finishes. “It was awesome, we had lots of (personal records),” Mules coach Julia Dragon said. “Overall we were really excited about the outcome.”...

Advance, Billings, Calvary Lutheran and Santa Fe will compete in the Class 1 volleyball final four Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

BLOOMFIELD — Advance volleyball coach Erin Hoffman wants her team to have fun. She illustrates that philosophy at the start of every match. During player introductions, every player gives the coach a high-five, and most have a big smile on their faces, including the coach...

Northwest senior Brandon O'Dell carved up the Poplar Bluff defense Monday night in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 semifinal. With a hat trick in 34 minutes and another goal early in the second half, O'Dell helped put the Lions back into the district final for a second straight year with a 6-0 win over the Mules...

Mississippi State senior MaKayla Waldner was named to the all-SEC soccer first team as a midfielder, the league office announced on Sunday. The Dexter native was also named co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Waldner led all SEC midfielders with 10 goals and was second in points (21) in the regular season. She leads Mississippi State in goals, points, shots and shots on goal. The Bulldog captain rewrote the MSU record book in her final season...

The Three Rivers men’s basketball team was in the midst of a five-minute scoring drought in the second half when Wabash Valley sank its first 3-point shot of the night. The Raiders’ 18-point lead was down to five. “It’s real easy to settle down if you have a good first half,” Three Rivers sophomore Jay Hines said. “But later on in the half we just picked up hard, starting moving the ball and started playing harder.”...

BLOOMFIELD — The Advance volleyball team is relentless. The Hornets continually pounded Bloomfield at the net and rolled to a 25-12, 25-2 victory in a Class 1 sectional playoff Saturday at Bloomfield High School. “That can get in your head,” Bloomfield coach Haley Silman said of the Hornets’ offensive blitz. “I felt like it got in our heads. We just let them play. We couldn’t recover from it.”...

BLOOMFIELD — The Advance volleyball team put the pedal to the metal after a slow start and raced into the Class 1 final four. Advance beat Holcomb 25-10, 25-4 in a Class 1 quarterfinal Saturday at Bloomfield High School. Advance never trailed but had trouble shaking the District 1 champion through much of the first set. Holcomb trailed by only four points (12-8) midway through the set and seven (17-10) before the defending state champion took control...

Four Stoddard County runners qualified for the MSHSSA Boys and Girls Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Dexter senior Margo Nea reached the Class 3 state race for the third straight year, placing ninth in the District 1 race at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau with a time of 20 minutes, 43.71 seconds...

The more the Three Rivers women's basketball team played in the season opener, the better they got. The Raiders increased their scoring each quarter Saturday afternoon in beating Olney Central (Ill.) 101-67 in the Lady Raiders Classic at the Libla Family Sports Complex...

The Three Rivers College men's basketball team opened the 50th season under coach Gene Bess with a defensive gem Friday night. The Raiders allowed just one field goal over the first 8 minutes, 42 seconds to build a double-digit lead, then didn't give up a point in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second half...

PARK HILLS — The Dexter offense continued its struggles on offense Friday night at Park Hills Central. The Bearcats football team had multiple opportunities to score its first points in three weeks, but Dayshawn Welch and the Park Hills Central Rebels were too much, defeating the Bearcats 20-0 in a Class 3 District 1 first-round matchup...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - One year later, another frustrating result. The East Carter Redbirds had three hits and put five other balls in play against Sherwood and lost 5-0 in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals on Friday at the Killian Sports Complex in Springfield, Mo...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - "I wanted this so much for them. They worked so hard," East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey-LeGrand said. "I don't know if it was nerves, if it was the waiting game, the anticipation, the air out of their sails because of the first game. I just don't know, but we just did not look like ourselves."...

BERNIE — Bernie senior Alyson Marcum committed June 19 to play softball for Florida SouthWestern State in Fort Myers, Florida, and signed her letter of intent Friday at Bernie High School. The Buccaneers produced the NJCAA Division I Softball Pitcher of the Year in 2016 (Courtney Getting) and 2019 (Kelsi Collins). 2016 was the program’s first season. They were ranked No. 1 in the country for most of last season, finished 54-3 and won their fourth straight Suncoast Conference championship, going 19-1.

The Twin Rivers volleyball team was coming off a one-win season but returned almost everyone. The Bloomfield Wildcats won their fifth straight district championship last season but lost four seniors, including all-stater Bailey Below. Uncertainty surrounded both teams entering the season, but both finished strong to win district championships...

MALDEN — A year after winning just one match, the Twin Rivers volleyball team is headed to the state playoffs. The second-seeded Royals outlasted the fifth-seeded Senath-Hornersville 25-19, 25-22 in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 championship at Malden High School on Wednesday...

Three years ago when Jeff Walk signed Deanay Watson to Three Rivers College, he told her they were both going to leave Three Rivers as national champions. Watson paused, so Walk said it again. It was a bold statement at the time. Watson, who redshirted her freshman season, was the only player committed for that swan song season. As the Raiders prep for their season opener, winning a championship is more hope than dream...

With one senior and a large junior class on last year’s softball team, East Carter gave itself a two-year plan. The due date is Saturday. The Redbirds (22-6) are back in the state semifinals for the second year in a row and will face Sherwood (24-3) in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. Palmyra (20-8) and Marceline (22-4) will play in the other semifinal. The third-place game is 5 p.m. Friday and the championship is 2 p.m. Saturday...

The schedule for the Class 1 volleyball sectional and quarterfinal round matchups at Bloomfield High School have been announced. Advance (32-2) and Bloomfield (14-15-1) will compete at 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by Holcomb (17-11-2) against Crystal City (13-13-1) around 4:30 p.m...

The Dexter Bearcats have struggled mightily on offense this season, and lately, they have taken a step back. The Bearcats, who will meet Park Hills Central for the second time in three weeks in a Class 3 District 1 football first-round matchup on Friday night at Park Hills, are averaging only 9.1 points a game. Discounting their 32-0 win over Doniphan, they averaged 5.9 points in their losses, while being shut out twice...

Sibling rivalries can sometimes bring out the best in athletes as each tries to better the other, and that’s what it’s done for Poplar Bluff trapshooting sisters Madison Cash and Hannah Cash. The pair, with a nearly seven-year age gap, were recognized recently for their trapshooting skills over the last year, earning spots on the coveted 2020 AIM (Academics, Integrity, Marksmanship) Missouri All-State Team...

HOUSTON (AP) — Almost out of contention in May, champs in October. Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendon and the Washington Nationals completed their amazing comeback journey — fittingly with one final, late rally on the road. In Game 7 of the World Series, no less...

Missouri’s youngest deer hunters have been waiting all summer for this weekend, and it’s finally almost here. Saturday and Sunday will be the dates of the first segment of the youth deer season. The youth season is open for any hunter age 6 to 15 as of opening day. The big catch is the hunter must be able to hold, aim and shoot their weapon themselves...

BLOOMFIELD — As the fourth seed, the Bloomfield volleyball team was one of only two in the seven-team district with a losing record. The Wildcats finished the MSHSAA Class 1 District 2 without dropping a set and claiming the title for a sixth straight year following a 25-23, 25-13 win over Campbell...

DEXTER — The Perryville volleyball team exacted a bit of revenge Tuesday night in the Class 3 District 1 tournament. The top-seeded Pirates won their first district championship since 2013, beating their nemesis Dexter 25-14, 25-27, 25-18. “It feels pretty good,” Perryville coach Cindy Cissell said of ending her team’s six-year district championship drought. “They’ve worked hard all year. I just couldn’t be any more proud of them. They’ve really come through.”...

MaKayla Waldner, a 2016 Dexter High School graduate, has added SEC Community Service Team honors to her extensive resume, the league office announced on Tuesday. Mississippi State's leading scorer also leads the Bulldogs in service hours. She has volunteered in Starkville, Mississippi, with the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign, multiple fun runs and the Boys and Girls Club. She has also visited local elementary schools to read to children and walk students into class...