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Sikeston falls in Classic semifinals to Jackson 59-36
CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A night of offensive struggles proved too much for the third-seeded Sikeston Lady Bulldogs to overcome Thursday night as they took on second-seeded Jackson in the Kelso Supply Holiday Classic semifinals.
After trailing by double-digits most the first half, a third quarter rally closed Sikeston within seven points but the Lady Indians held off the comeback for a 59-36 win that sends them to the championship game.
"I thought coming out after halftime we did a really good job of forcing the action," Lady Bulldogs' head coach Matt Schonhoff said. "We got some easy shots and we made them. We got some turnovers, but we couldn't cut the deficit past six (points). We had our chances, but we just couldn't make it, then they hit a couple threes and that turned out to be the game."
Sikeston trailed from start to finish as Jackson opened the contest scoring the first nine points on their way to a 18-4 lead late in the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs got their offense going soon after, but still trailed by 13 points entering halftime.
A defensive stand coming out of the break gave Sikeston new life as they held the Lady Indians scoreless for over four minutes.
During that span, Erica Peet, Tyra Bonner and Ariana Beard all added a basket to the Lady Bulldogs cause to pull within seven points of Jackson, 34-27.
Sikeston's chances took a hit when the Lady Indians, after seven minutes without a field goal, got a 3-pointer from Rylee Stafford and a put-back from Nicole Humphrey.
The five-point swing pushed Jackson's lead from seven points back out to 12 entering the fourth quarter.
Free throws and more missed opportunities by the Lady Bulldogs allowed the Lady Indians to keep pulling in the final quarter. They hit 5 of 8 free throws in the quarter and went on a 7-0 run midway through to take their largest lead of the night, 57-34, in the closing minutes.
"I thought defensively we did a good job," Schonhoff said. "We sent them to free throw line quite a bit and they're a good free throw shooting team. A lot of their points were from the line tonight. Defensively we did a pretty good job, but there's some things we need to get better."
Leading Sikeston was Peet and Beard, who finished with 10 points each. Four players scored four points each to make the rest of the Lady Bulldogs offense.
For Jackson, Cassisi Tomsu had a game-high 26 points, thanks in part to going 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Tomsu scored 18 points in the first half alone. Kayla Keith pitched in 12 points while Humphreys finished with 10 points.
"Thomsu is a good player," Schonhoff said. "She got to the free throw line quite a bit tonight. Good players make free throws. It got to a point where they were putting points on the board and no time coming off the clock. Then those layups that we missed were just a killer."
Now at 3-2 on the year, the Lady Bulldogs will play fifth-seeded Notre Dame for third-place Monday at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
| Sikeston | 8 | 13 | 8 | 7 | -- | 36 |
| Jackson | 20 | 14 | 7 | 18 | -- | 59 |
SIKESTON (36) -- Erica Peet 10, Ariana Beard 10, Alexis Boyd 4, Tyeshia Mitchell 4, Kiera Steward 4, Tyra Bonner 4. FG 14-56, FT 8-14, F 19. (3-pointers: none.)
JACKSON (59) -- Cassidi Tomsu 26, Kayla Keith 12, Nicole Humphreys 10, Autumn Reid 5, Rylee Stafford 4, Rachel Crites 2. (FG 20-49, FT 16-24, F 15. (3-pointers: Keith 2, Stafford 1.)