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SHS thumps Caruthersville
SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs basketball team blitzed the Caruthersville Tigers in SEMO Conference action, 76-22 on Senior Night Monday evening at the Field House.
The depleted Tigers team, sporting a completely different lineup than the one Sikeston faced in December, never had a chance on Monday.
While it wasn't an exciting game from a fan's perspective, it did give Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield a chance to give some playing time to some of the reserves.
Holifield started an entire senior lineup, which has been his normal M.O. during his tenure at Sikeston.
The Tigers (3-16, 0-9 SEMO Conference) actually managed to lead 8-6 until Holifield subbed in his regular lineup with three minutes left in the first quarter.
It was all Bulldogs (14-8, 5-2 SEMO) from there as they went on a 33-0 run which essentially put the game out of reach.
"It's a good game for us -- we built a lead and we were able to maintain it," said Holifield. "This gives you an opportunity to play kids who may not have played as much this year. They're a very important part of our team. Those guys get out there and work hard in practice and they don't get much recognition. Tonight those guys got an opportunity to get on the court and play quite a bit."
The Bulldogs led 25-8 at the end of the first quarter. Bulldog senior forward Ray Rodgers scored 12 of his game-high 14 points during the three minutes he played in the quarter.
Sikeston began the second quarter with a 14-0 run before the Tigers could score again. Sikeston led 41-10 at the half.
The Bulldogs, winners of four straight, outscored the Tigers 22-6 in the third quarter to lead 63-16. The clock ran the entire fourth quarter as Sikeston's junior varsity lineup played the game out.
"I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball and everybody got point opportunities," said Holifield. "Defensively we played a lot of zone, but I thought our kids worked hard in it and they did a good job."
After Rodgers, no other Bulldog reached double figures. Sophomore all-state forward Michael Porter had six points and four assists in very limited action. Julian Beard, Sherwin Jones and Joe Moore all had seven points. Brandon Washington and Isaac Porter each had six points.
Freshman Eli Jackson grabbed six rebounds. Freshman Juqualin Wiggins had four assists.
Caruthersville was led by senior Marcus Cagle's 13 points.
The Tigers were without seven players that suited up for the SEMO Conference Tournament.
Caruthersville coach Mack Skelton indicated that some had quit the team and a couple others were academically ineligible for the second semester.
"The kids they had on the court played hard," said Holifield of Caruthersville. "They worked and they tried and that's all you can ask from your team. They're going through a down time right now. Everybody cycles through ups and downs. They'll be back. They had three or four really good teams in a row and they're just going through a down-cycle right now."
The Tigers had to forfeit the junior varsity game due to lack of numbers.