All-state selection icing on the cake for Sikeston's Williams

SIKESTON, Mo. – The 2022-2023 Missouri high school basketball season only just concluded last week and the awards have been piling up for one Sikeston standout.

Dontrez Williams, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior was recently announced as a first team all-state player in Class 5 after leading the Bulldogs to a 22-8 season that ended in the state quarterfinals to eventual state champion Cardinal Ritter.

He was also named first team in the SEMO Conference and first team all-district, however, the all-state selection was the icing on the cake for Williams.

Sikeston's Dontrez Williams (1) puts up a shot�during a 61-56 loss at NMCC on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“Being named all-state is something that I always dreamed about getting,” Williams said. “It’s something that makes me want to go harder and push myself even harder so I can do it again.”

During the 2021-2022 season, as a 15-year-old sophomore, Williams led the Bulldogs in scoring with 16 points per game and averaged 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, giving a glimpse of the immense talent that Williams possesses.

This past season, Williams blew those numbers out of the water, averaging 20 points, 8.2 rebounds, and swatting away 2.6 shots per game. He also averaged three steals per game and 2.7 assists and he led the Bulldogs with 66 3-pointers, far out-pacing the 48 that he hit a season ago.

Dontrez Williams attacks the basket during Sikeston's 71-40 win over Poplar Bluff on Monday, Feb. 21, at the Sikeston Field House. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

Williams’ ability to score from all levels on the court made him a tough defensive assignment for opposing teams.

“I thought he made great strides from his sophomore year to his junior year,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “You couldn’t ask for him to have a better year than he had this season. I thought his overall game improved. Offensively he became a better shooter. He’s a threat from the 3-point line but he’s very tough attacking the basket, but I think his rebounding and defense may have improved more than anything throughout the season.”

Williams said that Holifield’s individual workouts combined with a team-first attitude has helped him revamp not just his abilities on the court, but his whole mental approach as well.

Sikeston's Dontrez Williams (1) drives to the bucket in a 71-41 win over Kelly at the Field House on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)

“Coach Holifield has helped me a whole lot,” Williams said. “He makes me push myself every day and he stays on me. I feel he pushes me harder than everybody else, but that’s good. I feel like he’s got a lot of confidence in me and I feel like he doesn’t let me down and I don’t want to let him down. Coach Holifield is a great person in my life.”

Williams did his part in the Class 5, District 1 Tournament when he led the Bulldogs to the biggest upset of the season with a 50-48 victory over No. 1 state-ranked Cape Central, a team that pounded Sikeston twice in the regular season and seemed nearly invincible at the Class 5 level.

In that game, a low-scoring affair by Sikeston’s design, Williams scored 23 points with eight rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.

Sikeston's Dontrez Williams goes up to block Cape Central's Clayton McClard Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, at Cape Central High School. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

“That felt really good, beating a top team – they were number one and it was just a great feeling,” Williams said. “We worked hard for the weeks up to that and the whole season. Our work paid off. We were the only ones that thought we could beat them. We had great coaching. Everybody played team ball. We moved the ball around. Everybody had good attitudes. Like coach said, when the bench is cheering and constantly cheering us up, we play better and it helps us win.”

It was the signature win in what became somewhat of a surprising season for the Bulldogs.

The team finished 17-11 last year and came into this season with a youthful lineup of mostly sophomores.

It was a Union Invitational Tournament victory over Class 5, No. 3 ranked St. Francis Borgia in late January that opened the eyes of the state and maybe the Bulldogs themselves.

Sikeston, which was rarely ever considered a serious contender prior to that weekend, quickly entered the state poll after winning the tournament, and the victory seemed to give the Bulldogs some confidence heading into the final stretch of the season as the team posted several impressive victories in February.

During that stretch, Williams began to dominate. One of those performances was a 23 point, 19-rebound effort by Williams in a road victory at state-ranked Caruthersville and then also a season-high 33 points and 12-rebound night in a road victory at Doniphan.

Once the Bulldogs were in the district tournament, Sikeston knew that the path went through Cape Central, but they still had to take care of business by beating North County on its home court and then knocking off state-ranked Hillsboro in the semifinals.

Williams notched his 1,000th point in the first quarter of the Hillsboro game, something that few in the stands even knew about. His parents, Jimmy Williams, a 1987 Sikeston grad and former Bulldog basketball player himself, and his mother Onethia Williams, were both ecstatic once they heard the news from another fan.

“It brought a lot of joy to me,” Williams said of achieving the milestone. “That’s another accomplishment that I always wanted to get. It just felt great.”

After winning the district tournament, Sikeston found themselves in the quarterfinals against Cardinal Ritter. The Lions proved too much for the Bulldogs that night, but Williams and the Bulldogs did enough to the capture the eye of the state pollsters.

The final Class 5 poll was just released and Sikeston finished ranked sixth, one spot ahead of Cape Central at No. 7.

“He took on tremendous leadership during the district tournament,” Holifield said. “He’s grown and matured so much. He had a great district tournament and put us on his back and carried us to the district championship.”

Another aspect that makes Williams’ accomplishments even more impressive is his age – he is a junior by grade, but a young one at 16-years-old, which is the age of most sophomores. He won’t turn 17 until July 27.

It’s a sign that his best days are still ahead of him and he is still not done fully growing and maturing.

“His body is just going to get better and better and his athleticism will improve,” Holifield said. “I’m looking forward to seeing his improvement for next year. He could really end up being a great player by next year if he continues the improvement he’s been on the last two years.”

Williams is staying busy this spring as a participant for the Bulldog track and field team, but he’s already got next season on his mind as his team will most likely enter the season with higher expectations with numerous contributors coming back.

“My goal for next year is to win state and have a great season,” he said. “I really like our team next year. All our young people got put in the fire early and now I think everybody will be even better next season.”