Familiar territory

SHS routs Pirates in semifinals; will face Notre Dame in championship

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- When the Class 4, District 1 seeds were released and Sikeston came in at No. 2, it might have served as a little motivation for the Bulldog players.

On Wednesday in the semifinals of the district, the defending state champion Bulldogs sent out a statement that they are still indeed a force to be reckoned with as they completely dominated third-seeded Perryville, 82-55 at the Field House.

With the victory, Sikeston advances to the district final where they will take on top-seeded Notre Dame for the seventh straight year.

Notre Dame defeated fifth-seeded Fredericktown 70-60 in the earlier semifinal matchup.

Sikeston (21-4) and Notre Dame will square off on Friday night at 7:30.

"It's so exciting," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said of reaching the district final. "It's our goal and objective when the season starts to get to this point. Hopefully we can continue on and work to get better."

The Bulldogs put together one of their most complete games of the season on Wednesday against a talented Perryville team that the Bulldogs had defeated 70-61 back in December.

"I think we caught them off guard when we played them so tough at our place earlier in the season that I think we woke up a sleeping giant," Perryville coach Joel Roth said. "I think we made people realize with the Cape Central win a couple weeks ago and as close as we played Sikeston that we were for real. I think they just came out with a lot more intensity this time and they were maybe a little bit more focused."

Perryville (21-7), which claimed its first 20-win season since 1997, jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game but it was quickly erased as Sikeston closed the quarter strong to lead 15-11 after one.

Sikeston still only held a 28-24 lead with three minutes left in the half, but the Bulldogs finished the half on an 11-2 run to take a 39-26 lead into halftime when J.T. Jones tipped in a shot before the buzzer.

"I thought our players really came out and played well," Holifield said. "Defensively we had good pressure on the basketball and I thought we rebounded well. Offensively I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball. Early we were able to get it into an up-tempo type game which was our goal."

The Bulldogs turned the game into a blowout in the third quarter with a 14-3 run to start the second half, increasing the lead to 53-29 with 3:26 left in the third quarter and for all intents and purposes, the game was essentially over.

"Their speed just killed us," Roth said. "We let them just sit back and play the passing lanes and they just gobbled every loose ball and every pass up."

The Bulldogs led 60-36 heading into the fourth and led by as much as 79-49 late in the fourth quarter.

Sikeston forced 21 Perryville turnovers, recording 14 steals in the process, many of which directly led to breakaway layups.

The Bulldogs were also sharp offensively, dishing out an impressive 25 assists and only turning the ball over nine times.

"I thought we were really looking for the open guy," Holifield said. "They did a good job of dribble penetrate and kick that we've really spent a lot of time on. I'm just proud of our players for carrying over things. They've got a great attitude, they're working hard, so hopefully we'll come out Friday night and play well."

But perhaps one of the more impressive stats of the night was on the rebounding end, as the much smaller Bulldogs out-rebounded Perryville 27-23.

"They're so quick off the floor," Roth said. "Even though they're a little shorter us, they're so much quicker off the floor and quicker to everything. Speed kills. They just beat us to everything. Jake Dobbelare, my 6-8 kid, was in offensive rebound position several times on the weak side early in the game and they just beat him to the ball and got off the floor quicker than he did. All night long, whether it was a pass, a rebound, or a loose ball, they just beat us to the ball. Their speed killed us."

Sikeston drained 9-of-18 from 3-point range and shot 31-59 (53 percent) from the field overall.

Jones led all scorers with 18 points on 9-10 shooting from the field. Terry Jamison followed up with 15 points and seven assists.

Keldon Warfield had 13 points and eight rebounds while battling the enormous Pirate frontline inside.

Caleb McGee added 11 points while Kil'Ron Coleman scored nine.

Junior guard Vashawn Ruffin had eight points with a season-high 10 assists and five rebounds.

Six-foot-five swingman Bryce Weibrecht, one of eight seniors on Perryville's team, finished with 17 points to lead the Pirates.

The Bulldogs, winners of the last three district championships, will now focus in on Friday's district title game with Notre Dame.

"We know it's going to be tough," Holifield said. "We have a lot of respect for their program and we know we're going to have to really have a good night to beat them. They always play great against us and Friday night will be no exception. We just have to dictate what we want to do offensively and defensively and hopefully play well."

Perryville 11 15 10 19 -- 55

Sikeston 15 24 21 22 -- 82

PERRYVILLE (55) -- Bryce Weibrecht 17, Jared Thieret 8, Jake Dobbelare 8, Ross Moldenhauer 8, Cody Call 6, Alex Robinson 5, Colby Brown 3. FG 13, FT 14-22, F 15. (3-pointers: Weibrecht 2, Moldenhauer 2, Robinson 1. Fouled out: none).

SIKESTON (82) -- J.T. Jones 18, Terry Jamison 15, Keldon Warfield 13, Caleb McGee 11, Kil'Ron Coleman 9, Vashawn Ruffin 8, Markeith Bratcher 5, Cord Sheehy 2, Reese Porter 1. FG 22, FT 11-14, F 16. (3-pointers: Jamison 3, McGee 3, Ruffin 2, Bratcher 1. Fouled out: none).