Big second half by Kennett dooms SHS

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulldogs closed out their regular season schedule with a 69-50 loss to Kennett on Friday night at the Field House.

The Bulldogs will open district play on Monday against Ste. Genevieve at 6 p.m.

Sikeston (5-17, 1-6 SEMO Conference) trailed just 25-23 at the half but the Indians exploded for 29 points in the third quarter to put the game away.

The Indians (10-13, 2-4 SEMO) buried four 3-pointers in the third quarter alone as they extended the lead to 54-40 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Indians hit 7-of-9 from the free throw line to thwart any Bulldog comeback.

Kennett's offensive spark came from junior guard Dontavis Jones, who had a game-high 22 points, including five 3-pointers.

"We just shot the ball well," said Kennett head coach Tim Turlington. "Dontavis got hot and we were just knocking the shots down. Our defensive pressure turned up in the second half. We were able to get a few turnovers and convert them into points."

It was Senior Night for the Bulldogs and they responded by coming out of the gates on fire.

Junior Marcus McCaster scored eight quick points to help Sikeston to a 14-13 first quarter lead.

Sikeston still led 23-21 on a Joe Lincoln 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the half but the Indians scored two baskets to take the lead.

Bulldog sophomore Kash Bratcher made a 30-foot 3-pointer which would've given Sikeston a one-point lead, but he didn't get the shot off in time before the buzzer sounded.

Kennett put the game away with a 44-27 edge in the second half.

One of Sikeston's main problems in the second half was the Indians' dominance on the boards.

"We're struggling in that area," said Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield. "We're a young team and sometimes that happens. We've just got to get more physical and more aggressive. We're playing a lot of young kids and they're learning some valuable lessons right now. We just have to keep plugging away and get better."

Sikeston was led in scoring by McCaster with 15 points and five rebounds.

Sophomore Rod Moore added a career-high 10 points with four rebounds in just his fifth varsity game.

Sophomore Trey Spence scored nine points in a little more than a quarter of action.

"I knew they had lost a few players," said Turlington of Sikeston. "They're very young and I know he's playing a lot of sophomores and freshmen on the varsity. It's tough, I've been there. I think every coach that has coached for very long has been there. You can compete with them, you just can't really win with them. That's just the way it is.

"Gregg always does a good job of getting his team prepared, no matter if he has a lot of talent like he's had with a couple district titles, or if he's down a little bit. They may not have done a lot of good things tonight, but they played hard and that's all you can ask."

Sikeston's lone two seniors, Freddie Wiggins and Josh Bloyd, had two and three points respectively. Wiggins had six rebounds and Bloyd added five rebounds.

Kennett also got double figures out of Cody Robinson and Danny Ragsdale with 12 points each. Aaron Taylor chipped in 10 points.

"They had good ball movement," said Holifield. "We got to standing a little bit. They got some open looks and they hit the big shots on us. We can't play like that, we've got to be aggressive and cover the shooters. We did a decent job of that in the first half."

Kennett will play at New Madrid County Central on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for their final SEMO Conference game.

Sikeston's JV team ended its season at 12-7 and 2-5 in the SEMO Conference with a 65-41 loss to Kennett.

Sikeston trailed just 26-20 at the half but the Indians out-scored the Bulldogs 39-21 in the second half.

Sikeston was led by freshman Julian Beard's 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Freshman Josh Jackson had 10 points. Freshman Blake Taylor added eight points with three assists.

Kennett was led by Jared Hughes with 20 points. Jonathan Wilkerson added 10 points.