O'FALLON, Mo. -- The Sikeston Bulldogs will once again compete for the championship of the Ft. Zumwalt North Tournament after crushing Troy 58-28 in its semifinal game on Wednesday night.
The top-seeded Bulldogs, who are the two-time defending tournament champions, will take on third-seeded Priory on Friday at 7:15 p.m. at Ft. Zumwalt North High School.
Priory upset the No. 2 seed and fourth-ranked team in Class 4 Jefferson City Helias in its semifinal 63-59.
"It's a good tournament and I'm happy for our kids to make it back to the championship," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield. "We will play a very good opponent and we know it will be a tough game."
Against Troy (8-7), Sikeston's suffocating defense swallowed up offensive opportunities for the Trojans.
Troy only managed six field goals from inside the arc throughout the game, one of which came in the final minute with the game already out of reach.
The Trojans were forced to settle for 3-point field goals, hitting only 5 of 22 (23 percent).
"That's part of shooting 3's," Troy coach Dan Moore said. "Some nights they fall and the game's really easy and some nights they don't and you have to battle and get on the boards."
Sikeston (15-2) led from the opening tip, taking a 10-2 lead early in the game and eventually built a 20-11 lead after a Don Larry 3-pointer with five seconds left in the period.
Troy never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
Sikeston took a 37-18 lead into halftime.
"I thought we played very well," Holifield said. "We kept good pressure on the ball and we had great help-side. We did a lot of good things. We were aggressive and we covered the 3-polnt line very well. I thought we really guarded inside well. We made it tough for them to score inside."
Sikeston extended the lead to 48-26 entering the fourth quarter and eventually enforced the mercy clock late in the period.
This is the third straight year Sikeston has defeated Troy in the semifinals of the tournament. Troy is a Class 5 school located 19 miles northwest of O'Fallon.
"They're a good ball team," Moore said of Sikeston. "They play the game the right way. They pressure you. Constant pressure. They rebound, and they execute. They're a good ball team."
The Trojans were determined to contain Sikeston all-state junior Fred Thatch, double-teaming him nearly every possession.
Thatch still finished with a hard-earned 18 points with seven rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Thatch, who topped the 1,500-point mark in his career on Monday against Parkway North, passed former Bulldog great Bryan Ellitt (2000) for second on the all-time scoring list at Sikeston with 1,524 points. Only Michael Porter, a four-time all-state player from 2006-09, has scored more points in a Bulldog uniform with 1,994 points.
Sophomore Trey Jenkins scored 11 points with seven rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
"I thought Trey did a really good job of protecting the basket. He played really well tonight," Holifield said.
Senior guard Jason Moore had eight points and five rebounds. Senior guard Phayzun Fobbs came off the bench and grabbed six rebounds.
"Part of being a good ball team is you're not one-dimensional and it's not just the Thatch Show out there," Moore said. "You've got lots of quality kids out there playing that can do a lot of things. It's part of a good ball team. You take one option away and it leaves you another guy. I thought their kids played really well."
Sikeston's defense contained Troy standout Brandon Bassham, who was battling the flu, to six points.
Now the Bulldogs will attempt the "three-peat" on Friday against Priory (12-3). This will be Sikeston's first-ever meeting against Priory, an all-boys Class 3 school in St. Louis.
"I think they're a good team," Holifield said of Priory. "They have great size and they rebound the ball very well. We'll have to take advantage of situations because they're very solid and will be difficult to beat."
Troy 11 7 8 2 -- 28
Sikeston 20 17 11 10 -- 58
TROY (28) -- Drew Deters 9, Brandon Bassham 6, Noah Wurtz 5, Andrew Nett 5, Todd Myers 3. FG 6, FT 1-4, F 15. (3-pointers: Deters 2, Wurtz 1, Nett 1, Myers 1. Fouled out: none).
SIKESTON (58) -- Fred Thatch 18, Trey Jenkins 11, Jason Moore 8, Don Larry 7, Kevin Jones 6, Payton Howard 5, Elgin Moore 2, Camden Sapp 1. FG 13, FT 11-17, F 11. (3-pointers: Moore 2, Jones 2, Larry 1, Howard 1, Thatch 1. Fouled out: none).
__Junior varsity__
The Sikeston J.V. team improved to 9-2 after defeating Ft. Zumwalt North's junior varsity 60-35 in the accompanying J.V. tournament.
Sikeston will be going for its third straight tournament title on Friday.
The Bulldogs were led by JeQuan Ray's 24 points. B.J. Hill scored 10 points with four steals. Clark Steward had eight points with seven rebounds. Lorandis Phillips had six points and 16 rebounds.
Fort Zumwalt North 6 6 10 13 -- 35
Sikeston 12 20 12 16 -- 60
FORT ZUMWALT NORTH (35) -- Rappleton 9, Banks 6, Knaust 6, Grimes 4, Bampton 4, Fitzpatrick 3, Watson 2, Maritz 1. FG 7, FT 3-4, F 7. (3-pointers: Rappleton 3, Knaust 2, Fitzpatrick 1. Fouled out: none).
SIKESTON (60) -- JeQuan Ray 24, B.J. Hill 10, Clark Steward 8, Lorandis Phillips 6, Kenyon Smith 4, Gage Rolwing 3, Colby Henson 3, Nick Harrison 2. FG 16, FT 4-4, F 5. (3-pointers: Ray 4, Hill 2, Rolwing 1, Henson 1. Fouled out: none).