Conference and district standing takes big hit after Sikeston's 61-50 loss to Cape Central

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- A lot was on the line for the Sikeston Bulldogs in Friday night's critical SEMO Conference matchup with Cape Central.

Sikeston came into the game riding a six-game winning streak, were still in the running for a SEMO Conference regular season title, as well as most likely the top seed in the upcoming Class 4, District 1 Tournament.

But Cape Central had other ideas as they defeated the Bulldogs 61-50 at the Sikeston Field House in front of a large home crowd.

It's the Tigers' third-straight victory over Sikeston including its second win this season.

Prior to the Tigers' two wins this season, Cape Central had not defeated Sikeston at the Field House since 2005.

"Any time you can come in here in this facility against their program and get a 'W' you don't ask questions, you just move on," Cape Central coach Drew Church said.

The Tigers (17-6, 3-3 SEMO Conference) beat the Bulldogs with a physical defensive game-plan in addition to the athletic talents of 6-foot junior Al Young, who led all scorers with 22 points and consistently beat the Bulldog defenders to the rim.

Not to mention the inside work of 6-foot-6 Jacksonville State signee Andre Statam, who totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds.

"They played great and stayed within themselves and we didn't do a good job of containing them," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said of Young and Statam. "To be quite honest we've got a lot of work to do in many, many areas. A lot of times when you're winning you don't see your weaknesses but tonight we were exposed in many areas."

Sikeston (12-8, 4-3 SEMO Conference) could not have asked for a better start, racing out to a 9-2 lead, but the Tigers closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 15-11 lead.

In the second quarter, after Sikeston's Earnest Fobbs tied it with two free throws and a layup, Cape Central went on a 7-2 run with Young scoring back-to-back layups to lead 22-17.

Sikeston responded with an 8-2 run, eventually taking a 25-23 lead on Corbyn Blissett's inside basket on a nice feed from Fobbs with 1:08 left in the half.

The Tigers quickly answered with a basket by Chase Hagerty and grabbed a 27-25 lead heading into halftime on a basket by Kway'chon Chism.

In the third quarter, Sikeston twice tied the score on a pull-up jumper by Dominique Dyes and an inside basket by Luke Williams, but the Tigers got a basket from Statam and a 3-pointer from Chism to take a 34-29 lead. The Tigers never trailed again.

They eventually took a 38-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Tigers led by as much as 48-36 in the fourth quarter where Sikeston had one final gasp, getting as close as 52-47 on a Donnell Cobb tip-in with 3:27 left.

On the ensuing possession, Sikeston's Fred Thatch tracked down a long rebound and, while falling out of bounds to save it, threw a long pass to Cobb streaking down the floor, but it was intercepted by Cape Central's Peyton Montgomery, which led to a conventional three-point play by Young to take a 55-47 lead with 3:03 left. The sequence proved to be Sikeston's final chance at making a comeback.

After Young and Statam's performances, the Tigers also got 12 points from the sophomore Chism.

Sikeston was led by Thatch's 13 points and eight rebounds, but he was limited to 4 of 13 shooting from the field while going just 5 of 11 shooting from the free throw line.

Church said his defense focused on containing Thatch, with the 6-foot-3 physical Hagerty doing the bulk of the defensive work on him.

"It was just our zone, but we did emphasize trying to limit Thatch's touches," Church said. "And when he does catch it you try to make it tough. With a talent like that you almost have to. He's so good on the boards and when he catches it, if you foul him, then you foul him."

The Bulldogs could not make Cape Central pay for sinking in on its zone as they went just 1 for 10 from 3-point range.

Sikeston was just 20 of 55 (36 percent) overall from the field while the Tigers shot 23 of 49 (47 percent) from the field.

Both teams tied at 27 apiece in the rebounding department. Sikeston's defense forced 15 turnovers while turning it over just nine times themselves.

Given those stats, poor shooting is the easy culprit to point to in this loss for the Bulldogs.

"They did a good job of taking us out of our game," Holifield said of the Tigers. "We didn't play well. We were hesitant offensively. We stood a lot and that's not who we are. We've got to get into a position where we're cutting and moving. We weren't aggressive tonight as we normally are. We missed a ton of layups and we missed free throws. You're not going to beat good teams by missing layups and free throws."

Cobb added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs while Juwon Kimble scored 10 points. Blissett had six points and six assists.

"I think they've improved tremendously," Church said of Sikeston. "Gregg's done a great job especially after missing some kids. I know what he's going through and he's really got them buying into playing hard and playing intense. You knew he would. You knew he would get them playing well. They're a good team and we'll probably have to see them again in districts and it will be a barnburner again."

Sikeston now finds itself in third place and likely out of the conference race, and quite possibly out of the running for a first round bye in the district tournament if they are seeded third or lower.

"We can't control things like that," Holifield said. "All we are concerned with its getting back to work and trying to get better each and every day. We learned some things about ourselves tonight and we will take steps to correct it."

The Bulldogs will travel to play New Madrid County Central on Tuesday in its final SEMO Conference game of the season. Cape Central will host Charleston on Tuesday.

Cape Central 15 12 10 23 -- 61

Sikeston 11 14 8 17 -- 50

CAPE CENTRAL (61) -- Al Young 22, Andre Statam 14, Kway'chon Chism 12, Chase Hagerty 6, Peyton Montgomery 3, Nikylus Thompson 2, Austin Parker 2. FG 20, FT 12-16, F 14. (3-pointers: Chism 2, Young 1. Fouled out: none.)

SIKESTON (50) -- Fred Thatch 13, Donnell Cobb 11, Juwon Kimble 10, Corbyn Blissett 6, Earnest Fobbs 4, Luke Williams 4, Dominique Dyes 2. FG 19, FT 9-15, F 19. (3-pointers: Cobb 1. Fouled out: none.)

__Junior varsity__

The Sikeston JV team fell to Cape Central's jayvee 59-43.

Marquan Nelson led all scorers with 15 points, all coming on five 3-pointers. Phayzun Fobbs scored nine points. Earnest Fobbs had seven rebounds, 6 assists and four steals.

The Bulldog JV team is now 11-4 on the season.

Cape Central 17 11 19 12 -- 59

Sikeston 18 9 6 10 -- 43

CAPE CENTRAL (59) -- Austin Parker 13, Blake Harris 11, Garrett Jackson 8, Aaron Harris 7, Kaleb Ward 7, Tevin Wright-Hunt 6, Jawone Newell 5, Rodrick Fisher 2. FG 17, FT 7-13, F 10. (3-pointers: Wright-Hunt 2, Newell 1, Parker 1, Harris 1, Ward 1. Fouled out: none.)

Sikeston (43) -- Marquan Nelson 15, Phayzun Fobbs 9, Don Larry 6, Sam Cox 5, Austin Branch 4, Earnest Fobbs 4. FG 9, FT 4-9, F 15. (3-pointers: Nelson 5, Cox 1, Branch 1. Fouled out: none.)