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Kelly stuns Bulldogs
SIKESTON - Like they have done all January, the Sikeston Bulldogs were canning 3-pointers at a record pace on Friday night.
Problem was, Kelly was matching them.
That, combined with the Bulldogs' offense catching cold, allowed the Kelly Hawks to pull away for an 85-55 victory on homecoming night at the Field House.
It's the first time Kelly has defeated Sikeston since 1998. It's also Sikeston's first loss on homecoming since 1998.
Sikeston was on fire in the first quarter, hitting six 3-pointers. But their shooting went cold for the remainder of the game as they made just two 3-pointers thereafter.
Kelly (8-8) on the other hand, was scoring seemingly at will.
Despite Sikeston's hot shooting, the Hawks still led 23-21 at quarter's end.
"We ordinarily shoot the ball well," said Kelly head coach Nick Lanpher. "Our record's 8-8, but we should be like 14-2 or 13-3. We lost some games early in the year, I feel like I'm as much to blame for it as they are. I was a little overconfident in them. It's taken us a while to get out of our bad habits, but we're starting to play like we're capable of playing."
The bigger Hawks also controlled the boards all night long, getting second and third shots on many occasions.
"We were standing bad on the boards and that was a big factor in the game," said Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield. "They took advantage of that and we did a poor job in that area tonight."
Sikeston trailed just 35-34 in the second quarter, but the Hawks ended the period on a 7-2 run to lead 42-36 at the half.
Kelly maintained the lead through the rest of the game.
Sikeston trailed just 50-46 after a Joe Lincoln 3-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter.
But the Hawks took total control of the game from there, closing the game on a 35-9 run.
They ended up taking a 59-49 lead at the end of three.
The Hawks continued to pull away in the fourth, out-scoring the Bulldogs 26-6.
"We were right in the game there up until about four or five minutes to go and then they just completely took over," said Holifield. "You just can't say enough about how well they played. They made some tough shots and every open look they got they knocked it down."
Sikeston finished the night making just 8-of-30 (27 percent) from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs didn't have much better luck inside the arc, making just 12-of-27 (44 percent).
"We knew they were going to shoot 3s," said Lanpher. "We just kept pushing them out a little further. I knew they would shoot it like that.
"They did it on Notre Dame and they did it on Jackson. They're good shooters, they can shoot the ball. It's a good win, any win is good. With our record being what it is, this is a real big win for us."
Kelly got a balanced scoring attack led by Kendal Deason's 17 points.
Trey Simmons and Josh Jones had 15 points apiece. Brooks Edmonds had 10 points.
The Hawks hit six 3-pointers on the night.
Kelly will play at Clarkton next Thursday.
Sikeston was led by sophomore Kash Bratcher's 16 points, including four 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Freshman Joe Lincoln had 11 points with three 3-pointers. Marcus McCaster added 10 points with six assists.
"We did come out shooting the ball well, but the thing that happened more than anything else was we had a hard time containing them," said Holifield.
"They got on a roll and they were shooting the basketball extremely well. I think they have a fine team, you have to give them credit."
Sikeston played Portageville on Saturday. Results from that game will be in Monday's edition.
Sikeston's jayvee team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 40-37 win against Kelly.
The Bulldogs trailed 13-10 after one quarter and 23-18 at the half.
But a big third quarter put Sikeston ahead 32-27 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sikeston (9-3) got a game-high 23 points out of Rod Moore. He also had eight rebounds and six steals.
Kelly (13-3) was led by Jordan Felter's 15 points.