SHS rolls past Patriots in Saturday matinee

Sikeston's Eli Jackson goes up for a shot against Henry County, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
(Photo by Josh Mills, Staff)

sd_sports@yahoo.com

SIKESTON -- For weeks the Sikeston Bulldogs basketball team has downed competition from Missouri night-in and night-out. On Saturday, they took a jab at Henry County, from Tennessee, landing a knock-out punch early on the Patriots.

"We just didn't compete," said Henry County head coach Mitch Wilkins. "Sikeston came out and hit us in the mouth and we said, 'ooh, we don't want any of that.' And we just kind of backed up."

Henry County backed themselves into a corner early and never could escape the gritty Bulldog defense.

Sikeston quickly broke a 2-2 tie and formed it into a 9-2 lead. From there, the score increased to 22-10 and 29-16 after one.

In the second quarter, the offense kept pouring in for the Bulldogs while the defense increased the intensity. The 13-point lead that began the second quarter ended up being a 34-point lead at halftime, 57-23 in favor of Sikeston.

The Bulldogs began the third quarter on a 7-0 run and then run after run gave grief to the Patriots both offensively and defensively. The 71-37 score after three gave way to a running mercy clock in the fourth quarter where the Bulldogs closed the book on their out-of-state match-up by a final of 81-40.

Outside of the tenacious defense and solid rebounding, another highlight for Sikeston was solid shooting from the charity stripe where the Bulldogs finished 75 percent, going 18-for-24.

"We just focused on it," said Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield on the Bulldogs' free throw shooting. "We're not a bad free throw shooting team -- I think we're shooting possibly in the low 60s. We've just got to try and keep a focus and concentrate and I think we're a pretty good free throw shooting team whenever we can keep our focus."

As for the relentless defense that the Bulldogs threw at the Patriots, Holifield said that his squad knew coming in that Henry County had a good team.

"We try to be aggressive," he said. "We knew they had a good team. We were just fortunate to get out to a good lead. I thought everybody played as a team tonight and I was proud of our energy and effort. We did some good things offensively and defensively."

Sikeston had four players in double figures, with Juqualin Wiggins leading the way with 17, going 5-for-5 from the field and pulling down nine rebounds as well. Eli Jackson added 16 points and seven steals and was 7-for-9 from the field.

Janeil Hatchett and Terry Jamison tacked on 12 points apiece. Hatchett was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and recorded six assists in the win.

Henry County (10-5) was led by Marcus Etheridge, who finished with 15 points in the loss.

The Bulldogs, now 12-1 on the season, will host Farmington tonight at 6 p.m.

HENRY CO -- Davonta Hutchenson 6, Martez Teague 8, Shonte Sims 4, Deonte Nored 4, Marcus Etheridge 15, Travis Sparks 3. FG 15, FT 8-9, F 19. (3-pointers -- Hutchenson 1, Sparks 1. Fouled out -- none)

SIKESTON -- Juqualin Wiggins 17, Eli Jackson 16, Niquavious Dixon 4, Darryl Howard 8, Janeil Hatchett 12, Martez Evans 2, Terry Jamison 12, Will Holifield 2, Corey Porter 8. FG 30, FT 18-24, F 12. (3-pointers -- Hatchett 2, Porter 1. Fouled out -- none)

JUNIOR VARSITY

In junior varsity action, the Bulldogs instilled the mercy clock as well as they went on to defeat the Patriots 72-37. An early lead for Sikeston helped earn the win to remain unbeaten as a junior varsity squad.

Three Bulldogs finished in double figures, led by Eldridge Gibson's 14 points followed by Keldon Warfield's 13 and Kil'Ron Coleman's 12.

HENRY CO -- Ray 6, Cook 4, Houston 9, Cowan 2, Holmes 2, Lowe 7, Pillow 3, Cook 2, Howard 2. FG 14, FT 5-6, F 11. (3-pointers -- Houston 3, Pillow 1. Fouled out -- none)

SIKESTON -- Markeith Bratcher 6, Vashawn Ruffin 9, David Foster 3, Caleb McGee 9, Terry Jamison 6, Eldridge Gibson 14, Keldon Warfield 13, Kil'Ron Coleman 12. FG 30, FT 7-15, F 11. (3-pointers -- Ruffin 2, Foster 1, McGee 1, Coleman 1. Fouled out -- none)