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Cape Central bounces Sikeston from SEMO Conference tournament 62-59
SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs know how to make things exciting.
Now they just need to learn how to win.
For the second straight game the Bulldogs lost a nail-biter, this time falling to Cape Central 62-59 on Wednesday night in the consolation semifinals of the SEMO Conference Tournament.
For the first time since the tournament's inception in 2006, Sikeston has lost two games in the tournament and is now eliminated.
Cape Central (5-1) advances to the consolation championship on Friday where they will take on fourth-seeded Notre Dame at 5:30.
Third-seeded Sikeston lost 79-78 in the first round to No. 6 Charleston after letting a 17-point lead slip away.
However, this time it was the Bulldogs that fell behind, trailing by as much as 17 points in the third quarter only to put together a furious rally down the stretch.
Twice Sikeston (2-2) tied the game late in the fourth, but both times Cape Central answered with drives to the basket, the latter of which coming from Nikylus Thompson with 20 seconds left to grab a 61-59 lead.
Sikeston worked for a shot on the ensuing possession and found Earnest Fobbs wide open in the corner for a 3-pointer but the shot was off the mark. Cape Central's Chase Hagerty secured the rebound and was fouled with 4.5 seconds left.
He made 1 of 2 from the line to increase the lead to 62-59.
Sikeston called timeout and drew up a final play, but the Tigers defended it well. Dominique Dyes was able to receive the inbounds pass and made his way toward halfcourt and heaved a 50-footer, but it was well off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Despite the loss, Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield was upbeat after the game, focusing on his team's comeback performance.
"I thought in the fourth quarter we played our traditional basketball. It's like a light went off," Holifield said. "We got very aggressive and tough and that's how we have to play the game. We're a very inexperienced team and I hope to think we learned something from that tonight. I thought we came out with confidence in the second half and we came out more aggressive."
The Bulldogs fell behind by as much as 37-20 early in the third quarter, but were able to trim the lead to 47-38 by the end of the period.
The Tigers led by as much as 11 in the fourth and still held a 55-45 lead after a tip-in by 6-foot-6 senior Andre Statam with four minutes left in the game and led by eight on an Al Young free throw with two minutes, 41 seconds remaining.
That's when Sikeston freshman Fred Thatch took over, scoring on a short jumper in the paint, stealing the ball and hitting a pull-up jumper from 15 feet and then stealing another pass, penetrating inside and dishing an assist to Fobbs for a layup to quickly cut the lead to 56-54 with just under two minutes remaining to bring the Sikeston home crowd to life.
The next possession, Statam was able to draw a blocking foul on Thatch that Holifield argued was an offensive foul and ended up getting whistled for a rare technical foul. However, with the crowd roaring, Statam missed the one-and-one free throw and then missed both technical free throws.
On the ensuing inbounds, Statam drew another foul and was able to hit 1 of 2 from the line to increase the lead to 57-54.
Thatch was fouled on Sikeston's following possession and sank both free throws to cut the lead to one. Sikeston quickly orced another turnover, this time a steal by Fobbs while drawing a foul. Fobbs hit 1 of 2 free throws to finally tie the game with a minute remaining.
It wasn't tied for long as Young penetrated inside and scored with 46 seconds left, but Thatch tied it seconds later with another shot in the paint.
On the following trip, Sikeston's defense broke down again, allowing Thompson to score what turned out to be the game-winning basket on a drive to the hoop.
"With as little practice as we've had, it's good to see that we can still find a way to win," Cape Central coach Drew Church said.
He also said a tactical error on his part led to the comeback by the Bulldogs.
"Usually we have a pretty good spread offense," Church said. "We haven't had a whole lot of time to work on it and we weren't in the bonus so it was bad coaching. I should have let them keep attacking. I probably shouldn't have gone to our spread game that early, but hey, you live and learn."
The Bulldogs forced 13 of the Tigers' 18 turnovers in the second half. But Sikeston also had 16 turnovers themselves.
"We didn't handle situations great down the stretch but we're going to work on that and will get better," Holifield said.
The Tigers dominated the first half, jumping out to a 17-6 lead in the first quarter as Sikeston hit only 1 of its first 11 shots of the game.
The Tigers continued to extend the lead in the second quarter, scoring on several transition baskets as well as shredding the Bulldogs' press with layups on the back end. The Tigers carried a 33-18 lead into halftime.
"We weren't putting enough pressure on the basketball," Holifield said. "We weren't getting back in defensive transition, which we'll spend a lot of time on to get better. And I didn't think in the first half we rebounded well. They had too many easy buckets off transition and that's got to be eliminated. Our goal defensively is to do everything we can to keep that basketball out of the lane."
Young led the Tigers with 20 points while Statam followed up with 18 points. Peyton Montgomery added 10 points.
"Just like in football, they are super talented, they've got great bodies," Holifield said. "They're just really a good team and they're going to get better, we know that. We've got to continue to get better to narrow the gap there. But they have some really impressive kids and Church does a great job with them."
The Bulldogs were just 8 of 31 (26 percent) from the field in the first half while committing 10 turnovers.
But in the second half Sikeston shot 14 of 29 (48 percent) with only six turnovers.
Sikeston out-scored the Tigers 41-29 in the second half.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg for Sikeston," Church said. "They play so hard and they're going to be hard to beat after Christmas. They have a lot of pieces and I know coach Holifield will get them going for sure."
Thatch battled foul trouble from the start and sat for much of the first half, but he still finished with a team-high 18 points, 14 rebounds, six steals and four assists. He made 8 of 9 from the free throw line.
"He's just such a hard worker and a positive kid," Holifield said of Thatch. "He's just going to get better and better."
Bulldog junior Anthony Coleiro had 13 points with four rebounds. Senior Corbyn Blissett had six points, five rebounds and four assists. Fobbs was a spark off the bench in his first extensive varsity action, scoring seven points with four rebounds and three steals.
Sikeston will next play on Tuesday at Greene County Tech High School in Paragould, Ark.
"In one month if we can keep working and stay healthy we have a chance to really turn the corner," Holifield said. "Everybody just has to be patient and we're going to get better and better because our attitude has been great. No one's going to feel sorry for us. We just have to get better, get tougher and get to work."
| Cape Central | 17 | 16 | 14 | 15 | -- | 62 |
| Sikeston | 6 | 12 | 20 | 21 | -- | 59 |
CAPE CENTRAL (62) -- Al Young 20, Andre Statam 18, Peyton Montgomery 10, Jalen Reddin 4, Khane Booker 3, Chase Hagerty 3, Nikylus Thompson 2, Kway'chon Chism 2. FG 27, FT 5-11, F 17. (3-pointers: Booker 1. Fouled out: Statam).
SIKESTON (59) -- Fred Thatch 18, Anthony Coleiro 13, Dominique Dyes 11, Earnest Fobbs 7, Corbyn Blissett 6, Donnell Cobb 2, Juwon Kimble 2. FG 18, FT 9-14, F 16. (3-pointers: Dyes 3, Coleiro 1. Fouled out: none).