Sikeston rebounds to beat Kennett

KENNETT - The Sikeston Bulldogs basketball team ended the regular season on a positive note by defeating Kennett 61-49 on Friday on the Indians' homecoming night.

With the district tournament starting this week, it was an important win for Sikeston, which entered the game losing seven of its last eight.

Now the Bulldogs, seeded second, will enter the Class 4, District 1 Tournament with some momentum. They received a first round bye and won't play until Wednesday at 7:30 in Perryville.

"I thought we really played well," said Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield. "I thought our players responded well in a tough place to play. I was proud of our players because we had a tough loss Tuesday and they showed some character and pride and bounced back well."

For struggling Kennett, it was another bitter loss as they fell to 7-15 on the season and 1-7 in the SEMO Conference.

Sikeston's Julian Beard charges into Kennett's Mario McGraw.

Sikeston's Julian Beard charges into Kennett's Mario McGraw.

"We just had inconsistent playing, that's the way it's been pretty much after the Senath Tournament," said Kennett coach Sam Weaver. "We've been inconsistent and it just continues to carry over."

The Bulldogs came into the game with a plan of containing Indian standout guard Dontavis Jones.

Employing a box-and-one for most of the night, Sikeston held Jones to seven points.

"I thought Sikeston did a really good job on their box and one on Dontavis," said Weaver. "The thing we've been trying to get these guys to see is we can't be just a one-man team. We had a lot of opportunities to score. We missed a ton of layups down inside."

The Bulldogs (9-14, 2-7 SEMO) got big scoring nights from sophomore guard Julian Beard and junior forward Rod Moore, who each had 19 points -- a season-high for both.

Moore's 19 tied his season-high.

"They had great shot selections and played under control," said Holifield. "They played with a lot of confidence and they weren't forcing shots. They helped pick up the scoring load because teams are going to try to take Kash (Bratcher) away. They knocked down open looks and Julian created a lot by getting to the rim."

Bratcher was held to two points with just two shot attempts. But he had nine assists, led the team with six rebounds and had three steals.

The Bulldogs controlled the game from the outset as they led 13-7 after one quarter. They led by as much as 23-14 in the second quarter before the Indians rallied to cut the lead to 27-23 by halftime.

In the third quarter Sikeston led by as much as 42-25 before the Indians came storming back again, finishing the quarter on a 12-2 run to trail 44-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Indians still trailed just 46-41 with five minutes left in the game but the Bulldogs finished up strong, eventually leading by as much as 15 down the stretch.

Kennett's Jamie Childress drilled a 3-pointer from beyond halfcourt as the buzzer sounded to reach the final margin.

Jerred Hughes led the Indians with 12 points followed up by Cordero Taylor's 10 points.

Joel Nabors chipped in 11 points for Sikeston.

"Our schedule's been so brutal the last few weeks and we've had some tough losses to Jackson, Kelly and Portageville," said Holifield.

"This is a good win for us. Our bench was helping us and everybody was positive. It was an entire team effort tonight. We played a complete game tonight."

Kennett will host New Madrid County Central on Tuesday.

The Sikeston JV team finished its season on a winning note, defeating Kennett 56-33.

The jayvee Bulldogs wound up with a final record of 8-12 and 3-6 in the conference.

Sikeston was led by Brujae Lane's 14 points, all coming in the first half.

Tarryl Booker added 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Blake Taylor had 11 points and three steals.