Lady 'Dogs fall to N.D.

Friday, January 12, 2007
Sikeston's Monika Gray-el tries to pick up a loose ball.

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs basketball team into a fundamental, aggressive Notre Dame squad on Thursday, falling 72-26 at the Field House.

Sikeston (2-9) fell behind early and never recovered.

"This game was our benchmark to see how much we need to improve," said Sikeston coach Homer Jackson. "By playing a team with less talent, it wouldn't be a realistic evaluation of where we really are. So tonight was a realistic benchmark of where we stand. Now they see how much work lies ahead of us."

If Thursday's game is any indication, the Lady Bulldogs have a lot of improving to do before the district tournament, which includes Notre Dame.

Notre Dame (8-5) raced out to a 15-0 lead before Sikeston broke the drought on a Latoya Gipson shot with 2:55 left in the first period.

On numerous possessions, Sikeston couldn't even get a shot up before turning the ball over.

"For us, it gets down to four basic things -- passing, dribbling, shooting and defending," said Jackson. "We're going to break it down and keep it simple. If we can do those things, we should be okay. That's our goal right now. Tonight demonstrated that we're not there yet. We don't pass well, we don't shoot well, we don't dribble well and we don't defend well."

Sikeston trailed 17-4 after one quarter. The Lady Bulldogs briefly cut the lead under double-digits after a Gipson basket and a Tasneem Ware 3-

pointer to make it 17-9 early in the second quarter.

But it was all Notre Dame from there as they took a 37-11 lead into halftime. Notre Dame extended the lead to 58-22 entering the fourth quarter, where the mercy rule kept the clock running.

Notre Dame had three players reach double figures led by all-state senior Kristain Burger's 19 points. Merideth Medlin had 19 points and Emily Brumitt had 10 points.

Sophomore Alex Fowler chipped in with eight points.

"We've got a lot of girls that can put it in the hole," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "A lot of teams have one player or two, but all of our kids can shoot the ball. Fowler, the red-headed girl, is just a sophomore and she's going to continue to get better."

Gipson led Sikeston with 10 points. Monika Gray-el, a 6-2 freshman, had six points and four blocked shots while Ware, another freshman, had six points.

"Sikeston's got some big kids and they've got a kid that can score," said Grim. "I think (Gipson is) a player. I'd like to have her up at Notre Dame, as well as the big girl (Gray-el). She causes some problems in there. She's going to be pretty good if she keeps at it."

Sikeston will play at Chaffee on Monday at 6 p.m.

JUNIOR HIGH

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston 8th grade basketball team defeated Charleston for the second time in four days as they won 60-17 on Thursday night at the Sikeston Middle School.

It was an improved performance by the Bulldogs, who narrowly beat the Bluejays by two points on Monday.

"I thought we played pretty good defensively," said Sikeston coach Kevin Self. "We mixed some things up a little bit. For the most part we didn't turn it over. Our passing, even in transition, was much better. We handled the ball much better and we shot the ball well tonight."

Sikeston was led by Deaires Tate's 14 points. Will Holifield scored 13 points. Ray Clark and Janeil Hatchett each scored 10 points.

Maurice Moore led Charleston with five points.

Sikeston (6-3) will play Poplar Bluff in the Cape Tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

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