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Charleston 'grows up' in 73-69 win over Sikeston at home
CHARLESTON -- Even since his sophomore season, the Sikeston Bulldogs have never had an answer for Charleston standout Delfincko Bogan.
On Friday night Sikeston finally found a way to slow Bogan down but it couldn't slow down his teammates as Charleston held on for a 73-69 win over the Bulldogs in front of an overflow crowd at Charleston High School.
It's Charleston's first win over Sikeston on their home court in 10 years, last winning in January 2005.
"It was just a thrilling victory," Charleston head coach Danny Farmer said. "We knew coming in that it would be a tough, rugged game all the way to the end."
The Bulldogs limited Bogan, who is averaging 27 points per game, to a season-low 10 points on 2 of 7 shooting.
But the 5-foot-11 senior still contributed in other ways, grabbing 10 rebounds with five assists and taking care of most of the ball handling duties, although he did have five turnovers.
"I think Gregg (Holifield) had a super game-plan to shut Delfincko down, but my other kids have gotten better since the last time we played," Farmer said. "I think my kids grew up tonight."
None stepped up more than 5-10 freshman guard Demarcus Sharp, who finished with a team-high 21 points, draining 3 of 4 from 3-point range and hitting four-straight clutch free throws in the fourth quarter.
"I knew they would try to double-team me," Bogan said. "When we played Doniphan (on Tuesday), I made sure I got my team involved because we already knew what Sikeston was going to do. I was able to get in the lane and kick it out to the Sharps and the freshmen. All of them came to play."
The game was a thriller, with Sikeston rallying from a seven-point fourth quarter deficit to tie the game.
But the game turned into a free throw contest in the fourth quarter and Sikeston could not convert from the charity stripe while Charleston was able to hit just enough.
Charleston (9-5, 2-1 SEMO Conference) went 9 of 15 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter while Sikeston went 3 of 7, including three missed front ends of one-and-ones.
The Bulldogs hit just 5-14 from the free throw line in the second half. But that wasn't the Bulldogs' only problem area.
They were also just 1 of 20 from 3-point range in the game with many of the misses coming off well-executed offensive plays and kick-outs to open shooters.
"We just didn't make shots," Holifield said. "That's part of it. That's going to happen sometimes. We're a young team and we've just got to get better and keep working. We're going to have ups and downs like this. But we've just got to make sure we're working as hard as we can every day to improve to get better."
In the fourth, Sikeston trailed by seven twice, but they crept back in the game and tied it at 64-64 on a Fred Thatch inside basket with 2:40 left.
Sharp answered seconds later with a 3-pointer, but Thatch answered seconds after that with a 16-foot jumper with 2:24 left to cut the lead to 67-66.
That was the last field goal scored for either team.
Neither team shot well from the free throw line, but consecutive missed one-and-one opportunities for Sikeston proved to be a back-breaker for the Bulldogs.
Charleston 6-4 sophomore Marquavion McCauley made 1 of 2 from the line to increase the lead to 68-66 with 1:14 left.
Sikeston's Corbyn Blissett then tied the game for the last time with a pair of free throws with 1:01 left.
The Bulldogs then fouled Sharp in the backcourt when gambling for a steal, but the freshman calmly put the Bluejays ahead with two free throws with 52 seconds left.
Eight seconds later Thatch was fouled on a shot. He made 1 of 2 to cut the lead to 70-69.
The Bulldogs then fouled Charleston freshman Jeremy Tucker, who missed both free throws. Sikeston rebounded the miss but was called for a traveling violation, giving the ball back to Charleston.
Sharp then made two free throws with 15 seconds left to increase the lead to 72-69.
Sikeston's Juwon Kimble and Blissett each took contested 3-pointers to tie the game, but both were off the mark, as Bogan rebounded the last miss and was fouled with two seconds left.
He hit 1 of 2 from the line to seal the victory.
After the game Holifield was mostly concerned with his team's mental toughness.
"I thought they out-toughed us," he said. "I thought offensively and defensively we were not very sharp. We were hesitating and we weren't attacking. And we did it all night. We had a sense of urgency late in the game, but up until then we really just didn't play very well."
Sikeston (5-5, 2-1 SEMO Conference) controlled most of the first half, taking a 19-15 lead on a Donnell Cobb 3-pointer to close out the first quarter.
The Bulldogs maintained its lead throughout the second quarter, leading by as much as 34-26 with 1:40 left in the half, but Charleston finished strong and closed the gap to 38-34 by halftime.
Bogan had just two points in the first half.
"I thought we did a pretty good job on him, but you give those other kids credit," he said. "It's not a one-man team. Last time we played them they did the same thing. It takes an entire team and they showed tonight that they are an entire team."
Charleston trailed by as much five early in the third quarter, but they went on a 12-1 run spearheaded by Tucker's eight points during the run.
The Bluejays held a 53-51 lead heading into the fourth.
Charleston continued its surge in the final frame, taking a 59-52 lead early in the period until Sikeston mounted its comeback that ultimately fell short.
It's the Bluejays' second nail-biting win against Sikeston this season, also defeating them 79-78 in the SEMO Conference Tournament.
The Bluejays also have taken control of the series, winning five of the last seven against the Bulldogs.
"It's great for us -- not too many people can beat Sikeston two times in a season," Bogan said. "That's not an easy job to do. I just know it's a great feeling to beat them."
Charleston also got solid production from junior Tenerrious Ewing, who had 14 points, and junior Dontarius Sharp, who had nine points.
The Bulldogs pressured Charleston into 21 turnovers in the game, but Farmer said he was pleased with the way his team handled Sikeston's defense.
"We don't see that kind of pressure a lot," Farmer said. "That's the ultimate when it comes to pressure, but we were able to do well and we didn't turn it over a whole lot. They killed us on the boards again. We always get killed on the boards, but we just happened to shoot the ball better."
The Bluejays shot 54 percent from the field, including 5 of 14 (36 percent) from 3-point range.
Sikeston out-rebounded the Bluejays 33 to 28.
Sikeston shot 26 of 42 (62 percent) from inside the arc, but the poor shooting from beyond the 3-point stripe drug the overall shooting mark down to 44 percent.
"We just wanted to guard," Farmer said. "We knew we wanted to keep an eye on (Dominique) Dyes and not let him hurt us from the 3. We wanted to do the best we could with Fred. I don't think you can stop him, but he's a freshman and we felt he would make some freshman mistakes. They're going to be good down the road. They've got the ingredients to be a real good team."
Blissett led the Bulldogs with a game-high 23 points, including going 7 of 9 from the free throw line. He also had six rebounds and three steals.
Thatch followed up with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Both Blissett and Thatch combined for 15 of Sikeston's 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Dyes had eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
Sikeston was scheduled to play MICDS in the Cape Tiger Shootout Saturday. Charleston will host New Madrid County Central in a SEMO Conference matchup on Tuesday.
| Sikeston | 19 | 19 | 12 | 19 | -- | 69 |
| Charleston | 15 | 19 | 19 | 20 | -- | 73 |
SIKESTON (69) -- Corbyn Blissett 23, Fred Thatch 19, Donnell Cobb 8, Dominique Dyes 8, Juwon Kimble 3, Earnest Fobbs 3, Luke Williams 3, Jaylen Mallory 2. FG 26 FT 14-27 F 22. (3-pointers: Cobb 1. Fouled out: Cobb, Thatch.)
CHARLESTON (73) -- Demarcus Sharp 21, Tenerrious Ewing 14, Delfincko Bogan 10, Dontarius Sharp 9, Jeremy Tucker 8, Marquavion McCauley 5, Mardareyon Clark 4, Darron Howard 2. FG 21 FT 16-28 F 21. (3-pointers: De. Sharp 3, Do. Sharp 1, Ewing 1. Fouled out: Ewing, McCauley.)
Junior varsity
The Sikeston JV team improved to 7-2 on the season with an exciting 60-57 win over Charleston in a game that equalled the intensity and atmosphere of the varsity game.
Sikeston's Jason Moore hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with under a minute to play and finished with a game-high 19 points.
After Moore hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.7 seconds left to put the Bulldogs up 60-57, Charleston's Mardareyon Clark heaved a 60-foot shot at the buzzer that clanked off the front of the iron.
Sikeston also got 13 points and six rebounds from Don Larry. Dylon Mills followed up with 10 points. Phayzun Fobbs had six points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Clark led Charleston with 16 points.
| Sikeston | 12 | 13 | 15 | 20 | -- | 60 |
| Charleston | 9 | 10 | 15 | 23 | -- | 57 |
SIKESTON (60) -- Jason Moore 19, Don Larry 13, Dylon Mills 10, Phayzun Fobbs 6, Sam Cox 5, Marquan Nelson 5, Chris Appleton 2. FG 17 FT 11-25 F 28. (3-pointers: Moore 3, Cox 1, Nelson 1. Fouled out: Mills.)
CHARLESTON (57) -- Mardareyon Clark 16, Jeremy Tucker 13, Jaquavis Rodgers 10, Mykondray McCain 9, Ke'sean Griffin 7, Jamaul Hines 2. FG 17 FT 5-30 F 22. (3-pointers: McCain 3, Rodgers 1, Clark 1, Tucker 1. Fouled out: Rodgers, Hines.)