February 15, 2017
Sikeston clinches SEMO Conference title with win over NMCC
NEW MADRID, Mo. -- With two SEMO Conference games left on the schedule, Sikeston needed to win just one of the two to clinch the league title outright for the second straight year. Sikeston got the job done on Tuesday night with a 79-56 win over New Madrid County Central on the Eagles' Senior Night...
By Derek James ~ Standard Democrat
NEW MADRID, Mo. -- With two SEMO Conference games left on the schedule, Sikeston needed to win just one of the two to clinch the league title outright for the second straight year.
Sikeston got the job done on Tuesday night with a 79-56 win over New Madrid County Central on the Eagles' Senior Night.
The Bulldogs have now captured at least a share of the SEMO Conference seven times in the last 10 seasons.
Also, Sikeston notched its 20th win of the season, marking the 10th time in the last 12 years they have reached the 20-win plateau. Sikeston had only reached 20 wins eight times in school history prior to the current stretch.
"It's one of the best conferences in the state of Missouri and we've had the opportunity to win it seven of the last 10 years," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "I can't say enough about our guys and our program. It's quite an accomplishment. Our players should be very proud."
Sikeston (20-2, 7-0 SEMO Conference) had sloppy moments in Tuesday's game, but the Bulldogs were still dominant, forcing 31 turnovers against the Eagles.
Sikeston, winners of 10 straight, has now defeated NMCC in 17 of the last 18 meetings.
"We had moments where we played well and we had moments where we had lapses," Holifield said. "It's a long season and you have to concentrate and work against that and not allow the lapses to happen. Hopefully we'll learn from it and get better. We didn't play our best, but at the end of the day it's a good road win for our program."
Sikeston built a 19-10 lead in the first quarter, but the Eagles hung tough in the second quarter behind the hot perimeter shooting by seniors Palmer Campbell and Javarcus Word, who finished with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Campbell hit four of his five 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Eagles sliced Sikeston's lead to one two different times in the period.
"Palmer and [Word] have been kind of off and on like that all season long," NMCC coach Travis Day said. "They've basically led us all year long. It's been here and there for us, but they had a great shooting night tonight. We just didn't get it in there as much as we needed to."
Sikeston finished the half with a 12-2 run capped by freshman Clark Steward's conventional 3-point play to send the Bulldogs into halftime with a 42-29 advantage.
The Eagles had 18 turnovers in the first half.
"We just got to a point where we had too many turnovers and they were making us pay for every time we turned it over and that's what good teams do," Day said. "Like I was telling the team, 'guys, I like your effort, but we can't turn it over like that.' We'll keep getting back to the drawing board and keep competing and see what we can do coming up."
Sikeston extended its lead to 57-41 heading into the fourth quarter where they put the game away, leading by as much as 29.
The Eagles' hot outside shooting (8 of 20 from 3-point range) kept the home team within striking distance but the rash of turnovers was too much to overcome.
NMCC was only 10 of 28 (36 percent) on 2-point shots.
Johnnie Walker added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles.
Sikeston was led by junior all-state guard Fred Thatch with 24 points, 15 rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Kevin Jones followed up with 14 points, four rebounds and matched a season-high with 10 assists for his first career double-double.
Sophomore forward Trey Jenkins had eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots.
Dylon Mills came off the bench and scored six points with three rebounds and two blocked shots.
"I thought Trey and Dylon really played well," Holifield said. "They had great moments and I was proud to see their aggression. I thought they both did some really good things. Clark really gave us a big lift as well."
Phayzun Fobbs, Payton Howard and Jason Moore each scored seven points for the Bulldogs.
Sikeston out-rebounded the Eagles 40 to 28 in the game.
The Bulldogs shot 32 of 73 (44 percent) from the field overall and 6 of 21 (29 percent) from 3-point range.
Sikeston also had 15 turnovers in the game.
NMCC (9-16, 1-7 SEMO) will travel to play Scott County Central on Thursday with junior varsity action starting at 6 p.m.
The Eagles will begin district play in Class 3, District 1 on Saturday.
"Hopefully this game and the next one we'll learn something and get ready for next week," Day said.
Sikeston will host Caruthersville on Thursday with junior varsity starting at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs will take to the road on Friday to play Miller Career Academy in St. Louis. Junior varsity will start at 4:30.
Sikeston 19 23 15 22 -- 79
NMCC 10 19 12 15 -- 56
SIKESTON (79) -- Fred Thatch 24, Kevin Jones 14, Trey Jenkins 8, Phayzun Fobbs 7, Payton Howard 7, Jason Moore 7, Dylon Mills 6, Camden Sapp 3, Clark Steward 3. FG 32, FT 9-13, F 17. (3-pointers: Fobbs 1, Howard 1, Thatch 1, Moore 1, Jones 1, Sapp 1. Fouled out: none).
NMCC (56) -- Palmer Campbell 17, Javarcus Word 16, Johnnie Walker 12, Jaurous Haynes 8, JaMonte Sykes 2, Eddie Grandberry 1. FG 18, FT 12-14, F 15. (3-pointers: Campbell 5, Word 3. Fouled out: none).
__Junior varsity__
Sikeston's J.V team improved to 13-3 on the season with a 68-26 win over NMCC's J.V.
Sikeston was led by Lorandis Phillips with 16 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. JeQuan Ray scored 14 points while Clark Steward scored 14 points with nine rebounds. B.J. Hill had eight assists and six steals.
Sikeston 15 17 22 14 -- 68
NMCC 2 6 10 8 -- 26
SIKESTON (68) -- Lorandis Phillips 16, JeQuan Ray 14, Clark Steward 14, Colby Henson 6, Elijah Faulkner 6, B.J. Hill 5, Payton Howard 4, Gage Rolwing 2, Nick Harrison 1. FG 29, FT 6-12, F 7. (3-pointers: Henson 2, Faulkner 1, Ray 1. Fouled out: none).
NMCC (26) -- Tre Daniels 6, Bryshawn Williams 5, Christian Phillips 4, Keaston Phillips 3, Ansel Underwood 2, Tra Ranson 2, K'evon Williams 2, Gabe York 2. FG 9, FT 7-8, F 13. (3-pointers: Phillips 1. Fouled out: none).
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