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Sikeston rolls past Dexter; beats Bearcats for 16th-straight time
DEXTER -- The Sikeston Bulldogs have proven to be quite a problem on the basketball court for Dexter over the past decade.
Dexter last claimed victory over the Bulldogs in December of 2004, but since that time Sikeston has been on a roll against the Bearcats.
It continued on Friday night at the Bearcat Event Center as Sikeston blitzed Dexter 86-61 in a SEMO Conference game for its 16th straight win over the Bearcats.
The Bulldogs never trailed and had essentially put the game away by halftime with a combination of pinpoint perimeter shooting as well as its relentless pressure defense.
"I thought we came out with good energy and effort," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "Defensively we've been emphasizing positioning and pressure on the basketball and I thought we did a good job."
The Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SEMO Conference) were also red-hot from the 3-point line, sinking 13 of 27 (48 percent) from beyond the arc.
Holifield is hoping that those kind of numbers will not be an uncommon sight this season.
"One of our strengths I think is that we have five guys on the floor at all times that can put it in the basket," he said. "I think we have a chance to be a high scoring team, but a point of emphasis is you have to share the basketball, which this team is very unselfish."
Bulldog sophomore Fred Thatch led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in 17 minutes of action.
"I thought we did a pretty good job on [Thatch] in our halfcourt defense and kept him in front of us, but they hurt us in transition which of course is a big part of basketball," Dexter coach Josh Dowdy said.
Sikeston jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the game, but Dexter managed to tie the game at 6-6 on a Gabe Jackson basket.
The Bulldogs began to take control of the game from there.
Sikeston senior Marquan Nelson buried a 3-pointer, Thatch dumped a pass to Earnest Fobbs for a layup and Thatch made a 3-pointer to open up a 16-9 lead after one.
Sikeston then blew the game open in the second quarter, out-scoring Dexter 28-8 in the period to lead 44-17 at the half.
In the quarter, Sikeston was hanging on to a 22-15 lead after a Jackson basket, but the Bulldogs closed the half on a 22-2 run highlighted by back-to-back steals and layups by Thatch.
Dowdy said it all started with his team's inability to deal with Sikeston's pressure defense.
"Early on we were able to handle the ball and not turn it over and settle our defense and were able to compete for a while," Dowdy said. "Once the pressure got to us it was difficult to defend in transition. That's what they want to do and they do it well. They speed you up, we fed into it and you see the result."
Sikeston opened up the lead even further in the third quarter, leading by as much as 32 before Holifield pulled his starters from the game midway through the period.
Sikeston held its biggest lead at 68-32 entering the fourth quarter on Chris Appleton's buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Despite the mercy clock running, both teams still lit up the scoreboard with a combined 12 3-pointers.
Dexter (0-2, 0-2 SEMO) drilled home eight 3-pointers (six by Ethan Flowers) in the quarter as the Bearcats scored 29 points.
Flowers scored 20 of his team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with eight 3-pointers in the game.
"They play with a lot of heart and you see how well they shoot the basketball," Holifield said of Dexter. "In my opinion they are considerably better than last season. Coach Dowdy really works his kids hard and they're going to get better and better. On a given night they can play and beat anybody. I was real impressed with their effort."
Nelson scored 14 points, including 4 of 4 shooting from 3-point range. Senior Dominique Dyes added 10 points.
Freshman Kevin Jones had four points, five rebounds and seven assists to go along with no turnovers.
Sikeston's bench out-scored Dexter's bench 30 to 2.
"Our bench came in and played very well," Holifield said. "They had great energy and they defended well."
Sikeston garnered the top seed in the SEMO Conference Tournament which starts Monday at the Sikeston Field House where Dexter could get a rematch with the Bulldogs.
Dexter is seeded ninth and will play eighth-seeded Notre Dame on Monday at 5:30. The winner will take on Sikeston on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Dowdy left Friday's game impressed with the Bulldogs.
"I think they're the cream of the crop this season," Dowdy said. "They do it the right way. His kids aren't talking to our kids. They're just doing it the right way. I have a lot of respect for their program."
| Sikeston | 16 | 28 | 24 | 18 | -- | 86 |
| Dexter | 9 | 8 | 15 | 29 | -- | 61 |
SIKESTON (86) -- Fred Thatch 22, Marquan Nelson 14, Dominique Dyes 10, Camden Sapp 8, Don Larry 6, Chris Appleton 6, Juwon Kimble 6, Deterio Newman 5, Kevin Jones 4, Earnest Fobbs 3, Dylon Mills 2. FG 17, FT 13-20, F 10. (3-pointers: Nelson 4, Dyes 2, Sapp 2, Thatch 2, Appleton 2, Newman 1. Fouled out: none).
DEXTER (61) -- Ethan Flowers 26, Jason Jarrell 12, Gabe Jackson 12, Jacob Pedigo 9, Ryan Mayo 2. FG 10, FT 5-8, F 14. (3-pointers: Flowers 8, Pedigo 3, Jarrell 1. Fouled out: none).
Junior varsity
Sikeston 66, Dexter 32
Sikeston's junior varsity team improved to 4-1 on the season with a 66-32 win over Dexter's JV.
Sikeston led 22-0 before Dexter scored its first basket just before the horn for the first quarter.
The Bulldogs led 33-18 at the half and pulled away from there.
Sikeston was led by Austin Branch's 16 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Trey Jenkins followed up with 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots.
| Sikeston | 22 | 11 | 24 | 9 | -- | 66 |
| Dexter | 2 | 16 | 9 | 5 | -- | 32 |
SIKESTON (66) -- Austin Branch 16, Trey Jenkins 10, Don Larry 9, Nate Self 9, Titus Fields 8, Dylon Mills 7, Damoni Jarrett 4, Jason Moore 3. FG 18, FT 3-7, F 12. (3-pointers: Branch 4, Self 3, Mills 1, Moore 1. Fouled out: none).
DEXTER (32) -- Braxton Foster 8, Dawson Kasting 7, Kole Kelley 5, Ben Sindle 4, Joe Rice 3, Seth Rogers 3, Nate Gargas 2. FG 10, FT 3-8, F 8. (3-pointers: Kelley 1, Rice 1, Rogers 1. Fouled out: none).