Bulldogs erupt in second half to take down Farmington

FARMINGTON -- After suffering its first loss of the season last Friday, Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield was curious to see how his team could handle the adversity of defeat.

Judging by Tuesday's performance at Farmington, the Bulldogs appear to be just fine.

After holding a six-point lead at the half, the Bulldogs erupted for 37 third quarter points on its way to an 86-54 victory over the Knights.

It was another example of how explosive Sikeston's team can be.

"I thought our players came out and really played with a lot of pride, energy and effort -- we just played Sikeston Bulldog basketball," Holifield said.

The first half was much closer as Sikeston committed 14 fouls and could never shake the Knights. Farmington actually led three different times in the second quarter, before the Bulldogs settled for a 37-31 lead at the half.

Holifield said Farmington's aggression presented his team problems in the first half.

"You have to give Farmington credit," Holifield said. "They did a good job of attacking off the dribble. They're very aggressive offensively. They came out on their home court ready to play. They did a lot of good things."

But the second half was a different story.

Sikeston (14-1) began the quarter with an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 48-31.

"We really pressured the basketball. We forced some turnovers. We knocked some shots down," Holifield said. "Reese Porter and Markeith Bratcher really played well during that stretch."

Porter and Bratcher combined for 19 points in the period.

"They showed their true colors that they just get after it end to end," Farmington coach Justin Callahan said. "Not only do they have a lot of athleticism, they have a lot of skill to go with it. They started shooting the 3's, knocking those down. If we extended out, they'd take it to the basket. We just didn't have the athletes to keep up with that. We tried to go man there for one possession and it was obvious that wasn't going to work. They just dumped it right inside to Porter, so we went back to zone. We had no answers for them. They have a lot of skill and they rebound so well."

Sikeston never let up in the quarter, forcing Callahan to burn four of his timeouts during the streak. When the quarter was over, Sikeston had out-scored the Knights 37-10 and had taken a 74-41 lead.

Reserves played out the fourth quarter to reach the final margin.

"It's a big win for us, but we approach all the games the same," Holifield said. "We try to stay even-keel. We approach every game the same and work as hard as we can for each opponent. This is a good road win against a quality team. This is a tough place to play."

The game started well for the Bulldogs as they jumped out to an 11-4 lead after a Cord Sheehy 3-pointer.

Farmington (6-8) came back to tie the game at 11-11, but Sikeston managed to stake a 21-18 lead after one quarter.

The two teams exchanged leads several times in the early going of the second quarter before the Bulldogs were able to take the six-point lead into halftime, setting up Sikeston's big third quarter.

The Bulldogs were led by Vashawn Ruffin's 16 points and five assists. J.T. Jones added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Bratcher had 13 points, all in the second half. Porter finished with 11.

Sikeston drained 11 of 28 (39 percent) from 3-point range. They were 29 of 72 (40 percent) from the field overall.

The Bulldogs had 39 rebounds in the game, including 23 on the offensive end. They finished with 20 assists and eight turnovers as a team.

Senior Jeterrence Harris continues to be a spark off the bench, grabbing seven rebounds, two steals and drawing two charges.

The win by the Bulldogs marks its 11th straight over Farmington, last losing to the Knights in 2005.

Sikeston will be on the road again on Friday when they play at Kennett at 6 p.m.

Junior varsity

Sikeston's JV improved to 8-2 on the season with an 87-31 win over Farmington.

Sikeston led 28-10 after one quarter and 51-15 by halftime.

Sikeston was led by Ja'lon Marr's 12 points and nine rebounds.Jaylen Mallory and Blake Below each added 10 points.

Sikeston 21 16 37 12 -- 86

Farmington 18 13 10 13 -- 54

SIKESTON (86) -- Vashawn Ruffin 16, J.T. Jones 14, Markeith Bratcher 13, Reese Porter 11, Jairius Ray 6, Cord Sheehy 5, Dantrell Brown 5, Zach Jackson 4, Jeterrence Harris 4, Kyland Gross 3, Marquese Parks 3, Zach Harrison 2. FG 18, FT 17-22, F 22. (3-pointers: Ruffin 3, Bratcher 3, Jones 2, Sheehy 1, Parks 1, Brown 1. Fouled out: none).

FARMINGTON (54) -- D.J. Hardy 13, Jordan Ankrom 13, Devin Nagel 6, Dante Castro 6, Garrett Callahan 5, Justin Boehm 4, Jordan Barnes 3, Grant Hopkins 2, Logan England 2. FG 16, FT 10-20, F 17. (3-pointers: Hardy 2, Ankrom 1, Barnes 1. Fouled out: none).

Sikeston 28 23 20 16 -- 87

Farmington 10 5 11 5 -- 31

SIKESTON (87) -- Ja'lon Marr 12, Jaylen Mallory 10, Blake Below 10, Juwon Kimble 8, Zach Jackson 7, Dominique Dyes 6, Cedric McIntyre 6, Zach Harrison 5, Chris Scott 5, Earnest Fobbs 5, Marquese Parks 5, Luke Williams 4, Deterio Newman 2, Dantrell Brown 2. FG 32, FT 8-13, F 14. (3-pointers: Below 2, Scott 1, Parks 1, Harrison 1. Fouled out: none).

FARMINGTON (31) -- Aaron Hargiss 10, Mike Pinkley 9, Logan Winder 5, Conner Gaige 4, Nedal Zereik 3. FG 3, FT 1-4, F 12. (3-pointers: Hargiss 3, Pinkley 3, Zereik 1, Winder 1. Fouled out: none).