Sikeston blasts Oran

Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Sikeston's Josh Jackson goes up for a shot while being defended by Oran's Chase Seyer.

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs basketball team jumped out to an early lead and were never threatened as they rolled through Oran 72-38 on Tuesday night at the Field House.

The Bulldogs dominated the boards and converted numerous layups off Eagle turnovers in the game.

"I thought we came out with good energy and we had good intensity," said Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield. "We were moving the basketball well. I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball. We did a good job of pressuring the basketball and we got some easy buckets. We were fortunate to build a big lead."

The Bulldogs led 7-5 in the first quarter and went on a 10-0 run to take a double-figure lead that they would keep the rest of the night.

Sikeston led 23-10 after one quarter.

The Bulldogs (12-8) started the second quarter on a 14-0 run. Oran scored its only points in the quarter on two Chase Seyer free throws with 2:20 left. Sikeston outscored the Eagles 18-2 in the quarter to take a 41-12 halftime lead.

Oran (11-9) actually outscored Sikeston 18-17 in the third quarter but couldn't make much of a dent as Holifield substituted freely in the second half.

Sikeston enforced the mercy rule in the fourth quarter to keep the clock running.

"Our biggest weakness is being able to handle the pressure up front with our guards and they just totally took us out of anything we wanted or hoped to do tonight," said Oran head coach Denver Stuckey.

Sophomore all-stater Michael Porter led four Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

Senior all-state guard Julian Beard tallied 11 points and five rebounds. Senior Blake Taylor had 11 points. Senior Ray Rodgers had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Senior Isaac Porter had a strong all-around game with nine points, six assists, seven steals and no turnovers.

"Last week I could start to see us possibly turning the corner for the first time in a while," said Holifield. "We've had everybody on the court and they players have a terrific attitude. They have a goal and objective of what they want to accomplish and I'm very pleased with how they've handled some tough situations. I just think we're going to get better and better down the stretch."

Oran was led by Seyer's 17 points with 12 of those coming in the second half.

The Eagles were playing without two starters, Kody Campbell and Robert Lange, due to injuries, but Stuckey still thought his team would put up a better showing.

"We knew we had our hands full," said Stuckey. "We saw that Scott City knocked Sikeston off and Kelly played them close, so we thought we could give them a good game, but they took it to a level we weren't ready for tonight."

While the Eagles were out-matched on Tuesday, Holifield thinks the team could be a district contender when they get healthy.

"They're a very competitive team," said Holifield. "I know they've played some good people close and they've beaten some good people. Coach Stuckey is doing a really good job with them and he's got them playing hard and competing. I know they're a little banged up right now. They'll have a chance come district tournament time. I've heard a lot of complimentary things about their team."

Sikeston will return to action this Friday as they host SEMO Conference rival Cape Central at 6 p.m. on homecoming night.

Oran will play at Scott-Mississippi Conference rival Scott Central on Friday at 6 p.m.

Junior varsity

The Sikeston J.V. team got back on the winning track with an 80-36 win against Oran's junior varsity.

Sikeston (13-4) raced out to a 16-0 lead before Oran broke the shutout. Sikeston led 24-5 after one quarter and 39-19 at halftime. They took a 64-27 lead into the fourth quarter.

Every player saw floor time for Sikeston and all but one player scored.

Freshman Eli Jackson scored all 18 of his points in two quarters of action. He also had five rebounds and four steals. Freshman Dwayne Harris had 12 points and six rebounds.

Freshman Niquavious Dixon had 10 points, six rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Oran was led by Dannenmueller's 10 points.

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