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C4D1 Boys: Sikeston takes out Dexter, advances to semifinals
SIKESTON -- For four minutes, things were going exactly as planned for the Dexter Bearcats in Monday's Class 4, District 1 first round game against Sikeston.
With the score tied at 4-4 halfway through the first quarter, sixth-seeded Dexter's strategy of eating up clock and using long, drawn out possessions seemed to frustrate third-seeded Sikeston early.
But it didn't take long before Sikeston's defense figured things out. The Bulldogs finished the quarter on a big run and never looked back as they eliminated Dexter 76-50 at the Sikeston Field House.
Sikeston advances to the district semifinals where they will meet No. 2 seed Cape Central on Thursday at 7:30.
Dexter's season ends at 9-15.
Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield was pleased with his team's performance.
"I thought our team really came out ready to play," Holifield said. "We did some good things early. Dexter is very patient offensively, but fortunately we were able to build a lead and that put us in a good position."
The start to Monday's game could not have been scripted any better according to Dexter first-year head coach Josh Dowdy.
"The first four minutes we actually did what we wanted to do, control the tempo and wanted them to come out of that zone and they did," Dowdy said. "We knew they were going to, we just wanted them to play man for a while. I knew they were capable of doing it, but we just wanted to try to make them do something a little different. We stayed around for four minutes but they turned up the pressure and made us make some decisions and we didn't handle the pressure."
Sikeston (17-8) took the lead for good on three straight baskets by freshman Fred Thatch on a 15-foot jumper, a steal and slam dunk to finish off a fast-break, and then a tip-in on an offensive putback to lead 10-4.
Dexter closed the gap to 12-8, but Sikeston's Jaylen Mallory hit a 3-pointer and then teammate Juwon Kimble tipped in a shot just before the first quarter horn sounded to lead 17-8.
Sikeston then blew the game open in the second quarter, going on a 16-2 run in the middle of the period to lead 39-15 capped by an Earnest Fobbs layup off a feed from Corbyn Blissett. The Bulldogs carried a 41-18 lead into halftime.
Sikeston's offense was clicking, but it all started on the defensive end for the Bulldogs as Holifield sped up the Dexter offense into mistakes.
Dexter used the same ball-control strategy against the Bulldogs in a 52-27 loss in December, so Holifield anticipated the Bearcats would try it again.
"The only way you can really take care of that is trap it," Holifield said. "We were able to create some turnovers with our trap and that put us in a position to build a big lead by halftime."
Dexter battled in the third quarter, eventually cutting the lead to 49-29, but Sikeston's Donnell Cobb hit a 3-pointer and then scored on back-to-back offensive putbacks to extend the lead to 56-29. Two Kimble free throws made it 58-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bearcats kept the game from ever reaching the mercy clock in the fourth quarter as they drained four 3-pointers and out-scored the Bulldogs 21-18 in the final frame.
"We showed a lot of grit by not laying down," Dowdy said. "It could have easily gone to 40 but we showed some grit."
Sikeston forced the Bearcats into 21 turnovers in the game while the Bulldogs only committed seven turnovers themselves.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Bearcats 32 to 21 in the game.
"They've improved over the course of the season," Dowdy said of Sikeston. "Coach Holifield has these guys playing good basketball at the right time."
The Bulldogs had 10 players reach the scoring column led by Blissett's 16 points, four rebounds and five assists. Thatch followed up with 13 points and seven rebounds. Cobb added 12 points, four rebounds and four steals. Dominique Dyes had a team-high six assists with three steals.
"I thought we really shared the basketball offensively," Holifield said. "I thought defensively we kept great pressure on the ball. I thought Dominique, Jaylen and Donnell did a good job of really pressuring the basketball."
Dexter was led in scoring by Ethan Flowers' 13 points. Noah Kronk followed up with 12 points while Jacob Pedigo added 11.
The Bearcats will graduate three seniors: Kronk, Peyton Pollock and Matt Sims, who hit a free throw with seconds remaining to finish his high school career.
"I see that we made some improvements and hopefully we can continue moving forward," Dowdy said of his first year at the helm. "We're losing three seniors and they're great kids and we're going to miss them, but we're also looking forward to what we have coming back next year."
Sikeston will now prepare for a colossal matchup with a Cape Central team that has defeated the Bulldogs twice already on the Field House floor this season.
"They're a great team and they pose many problems," Holifield said of Cape Central. "They're very well-coached, they have outstanding athletes on the floor. They have an outstanding player in Andre Statam. I think Al Young is as fast as any player in the state of Missouri from baseline to baseline, and their role players do their job. They do a good job of controlling tempo. We're going to have to play really well to have a chance to beat them. It's district tournament. It will be a great crowd against a great team. It's two great programs so it's always exciting."
| Dexter | 8 | 10 | 11 | 21 | -- | 50 |
| Sikeston | 17 | 24 | 17 | 18 | -- | 76 |
DEXTER (50) -- Noah Kronk 12, Jason Jarrell 4, Peyton Pollock 5, Jacob Pedigo 11, Austin Chesser 2, Ethan Flowers 13, Addison Moore 2, Matt Sims 1. FG 20, FT 4-8, F 16. (3-pointers: Pollock 1, Pedigo 2, Flowers 3. Fouled out: none.)
SIKESTON (76) -- Donnell Cobb 12, Phayzun Fobbs 3, Dominique Dyes 6, Corbyn Blissett 16, Jaylen Mallory 6, Fred Thatch 13, Juwon Kimble 4, Earnest Fobbs 6, Luke Williams 4, Marquan Nelson 6. FG 30, FT 10-18, F 7. (3-pointers: Cobb 1, Dyes 1, Mallory 1, Thatch 1, Nelson 2. Fouled out: none.)