Bad news for Bulldog foes, Holifield is still seeking improvement from his team

On average, the Sikeston High School varsity boy’s basketball squad has won each of its 19 games this season by an astounding 33 points, so one might think that there isn’t much for the Class 5 No. 1-ranked Bulldogs to improve upon. However, veteran coach Gregg Holifield doesn’t see it that way.

“We have to improve upon all facets of the game,” Holifield said.

That is outright frightening for the remaining Bulldog opposition, beginning with tonight’s SEMO Conference foe, Kennett (5-12), which will visit the Sikeston Field House (home of recently-crowned Gregg Holifield Court) at 8:30 p.m.

“Defensively,” Holifield continued, “rebounding, I could go on, offensively.”

Oh my.

Think about this fact: Sikeston has advanced to four Final Fours since 2011 (winning the Class 4 championship that year), yet this year’s team is the most productive offensively of any Holifield team since 2009.

The Bulldogs are averaging nearly 84 points per game this winter.

Sikeston grabbed a couple of SEMO Conference wins at Dexter and against Poplar Bluff last week, which followed three wins in the Union Varsity Tournament, which capped a Bulldog championship when Holifield’s kids topped 20-win St. Francis Borgia 69-57. And Sikeston did that without 7-foot junior center Trace Sadler, who is out with a sprained ankle.

“Last week,” Holifield said recently of the Union Tournament, “I thought that we played pretty well up to certain points, “but defensively, we have to improve.”

That might be a hard ask, but Holifield hasn’t become the premier coach in Southeast Missouri by coasting.

This Sikeston team is allowing the fewest points (51 per game) since the 2022 team did the same, but before that, you would have to go back to that state title-winning 2011 squad to find a stingier group than this one.

“That is probably the number one area,” Holifield said of growth that he wants to see, “and with defense goes rebounding. The team that controls the boards controls the game.

“We did a really good job last week rebounding the basketball. We were aggressive. We had the mindset for it, and we have to continue to have that.”

Following tonight’s game, the Bulldogs will visit Cape Central (13-6) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.