SHS blisters Maplewood-Richmond Heights

~Bulldogs earn first-ever win in the tournament

POPLAR BLUFF--Things got rolling early and often on Friday night, as the Sikeston Bulldogs put up 83 points in a victory over the Maplewood Blue Devils and cruised to their first-ever win in the Poplar Bluff Showdown by a score of 83-58.

Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield was pleased with his team's victory after the game, noting that his team came out with a lot more effort than in Thursday's tough loss to Harrison, Ga.

"We were sluggish last night," Holifield said. "We were a lot more intense tonight. Of course the team we played last night (Harrison) had a lot to do with it."

"I thought we played better tonight," he added.

The Bulldogs had quite a player to try to contain in Maplewood's 6-0 junior guard Bryant Allen, who was in double figures by the end of the first quarter with 10 points.

"He's an awfully good player," Holifield said. "I was really impressed with him when I was watching him last night. I thought our players did a good job of helping and catching on him, because he's a handful and he's awfully good."

Allen finished the game with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Maplewood as a team, hit nine 3-pointers.

For the Bulldogs, it was a balanced attack that won the ball game.

Sikeston trailed by one after the first quarter, but in the second quarter the Bulldogs outscored the Blue Devils 19-9, going into the locker room at half-

time with the lead, 38-29.

The second half was all red-and-black, as Sikeston rolled to the 83-58 win, with five players scoring in double figures: Michael Porter 18, Brandon Washington 16, Cal Lane 15, Matt Ritch 15 and Sherwin Jones with 11.

The Bulldogs crashed the boards on Friday evening as they recorded 55 rebounds both offensively and defensively combined.

Porter finished with 18 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks, three assists and two steals, while Juqualin Wiggins had just five points, but recorded 11 rebounds and had seven assists.

Lane had a big game off the bench for Sikeston, hitting three 3-pointers, and recorded nine points in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs hit the home-

stretch.

Sikeston's starters accounted for 78 percent of the team's points, with 65 points.

The Bulldogs faced host Poplar Bluff on Saturday evening. Poplar Bluff advanced by defeating Mills University Studies 66-58 on Friday. The results of the Sikeston vs. Poplar Bluff match-up will be in Wednesday's paper.