Big second half lifts Sikeston over Bluff in district semifinal, 82-61

BONNE TERRE, Mo. – All season long it seemed that Sikeston and Cape Central were on a collision course to meet in the Class 5, District 1 championship game.

Both of Saturday’s semifinal games may have been a bit more competitive than most thought they would be, but the district title game matchup became official after top-seeded Sikeston used a big second half to pull away from fourth-seeded Poplar Bluff 82-61; and then second-seeded Cape Central held off a furious rally from third-seeded Farmington to win 52-47.

The championship game is set to tipoff on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at North County High School.

The game is a rematch of last year’s district championship game in which second-seeded Sikeston pulled off a shocking upset of top-seeded and No. 1 state-ranked Cape Central, 50-48.

“We expected Cape Central to be there and we know it’s going to be a very difficult game,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “They have great talent and great athletes and we know they will come in prepared for us.”

But to get there, Sikeston needed to take down a fired up Poplar Bluff squad in the first semifinal of the night.

Sikeston (27-1) scored the first six points of the game, but the Mules (16-12) took control after that – going on a 12-0 run to take a 12-6 lead.

Later in the first quarter, the Mules maintained an 18-12 lead after a Darius Graham 3-pointer, but Sikeston’s P.J. Farmer answered with a 3-pointer with two seconds left to trim the gap to 18-15.

“Give credit to Poplar Bluff, they really came out ready to play and they were more aggressive than we were to start the game,” Holifield said.

Sikeston all-state guard Dontrez Williams picked up his third foul early in the second quarter with the score tied 20-20.

With Williams on the bench, the team needed someone to step up in his absence. The Bulldogs got it from a variety of players, demonstrating the depth and talent of Holifield’s team which has been ranked No. 1 in Class 5 all season long.

Farmer scored 11 points in the second quarter while 7-foot junior Trace Sadler was keeping the Mules from attacking in the paint with his length.

Sadler proved to be a problem for the Mules throughout the game as he scored 15 points with 10 rebounds and caused numerous shot alterations inside on the defensive side of the ball.

“Trace was very aggressive tonight and he played very well,” Holifield said. “He has the ability to be a game-changer in there and he really was tonight. I’m really proud of his effort.”

The Bulldogs led by as much as six in the second quarter, but a Marlon Hickman-Roberson basket cut the lead to 30-26 by halftime.

Sikeston dominated the third quarter, out-scoring the Mules 30-18 to take a 60-44 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Junior guards Tristan Wiggins and Lekereon McCray combined for 15 points in the third quarter as the pace of the game picked up to Sikeston’s preference.

The Mules were still nipping away, but a huge Chris Artis 3-pointer from the right corner snatched the momentum back for the Bulldogs and extended the lead to 57-42.

“We were able to pressure the ball and we picked the tempo up,” Holifield said. “Plus we shot the ball much better and that makes a difference.”

Sikeston continued to pull away in the fourth quarter.

The Mules never got closer than 12 in the final frame. A Wiggins 3-pointer with 2:52 left iced the game for good, giving the Bulldogs a 75-54 lead.

Sadler put a punctuation mark on the victory with a vicious two-handed slam with 1:30 left to bring the large contingent of red and black fans to their feet, and giving the Bulldogs an 81-58 lead as both teams cleared the bench for the final moments.

“I thought we responded well in the second half,” Holifield said. “We had some foul trouble, but we had a lot of guys step up and contribute.”

Farmer finished with a game-high 21 points with six rebounds and eight assists. Williams overcame his foul trouble and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

McCray scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half. He also had five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“Lekereon really played well,” Holifield said. “He was very good defensively and gave us a shot in the arm offensively when we really needed it.”

The Bulldogs shot 9 of 17 (53 percent) from 3-point range.

“We shot the ball well tonight,” Holifield said. “We weren’t hitting shots early, but we were taking good shots. I knew eventually we would start knocking them down.”

Wiggins scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half.

Poplar Bluff was led by Isaiah Nevel’s 15 points and Graham’s 13.

This is the first time Sikeston and Poplar Bluff have met in a district game since 1996 and it’s the first time since 2000 that they’ve been in the same classification.

The Bulldogs have now defeated the Mules six straight times.

Cape Central (19-8) reached the championship game with a hard-fought victory over Farmington. The Tigers led 22-4 in the first half, but Farmington was rally back and make a game of it.

The Knights had the ball trailing 50-47 with four seconds remaining after a Cape Central free throw, but a Farmington player called a timeout that the team didn’t have which led to a technical being issued.

The Tigers made both technical free throws to seal the game.

Sikeston defeated the Tigers twice during the regular season, winning 72-57 on Dec. 2 in the finals of the De Soto Tournament and a 70-47 win on Feb. 9 in a SEMO Conference game at Cape Central.

Tuesday’s game with Cape Central will be the ninth time that Sikeston and the Tigers will square off for a district championship in Holifield’s tenure.

Poplar Bluff 18 8 18 17 -- 61

Sikeston 15 15 30 22 -- 82

POPLAR BLUFF (61) – Isaiah Nevel 15, Darius Graham 13, Dallas Williams 11, Marlon Hickman-Roberson 6, Brendan Durden 6, Preston Moore 5, LeDon Webb 3, Sammy Durden 2. FG 24, FT 5-10, F 19. (3-pointers: Graham 3, Nevel 1, Webb 1, Moore 1, Williams 1, B. Durden 1. Fouled out: none).

SIKESTON (82) – P.J. Farmer 21, Dontrez Williams 15, Trace Sadler 15, Lekereon McCray 14, Tristan Wiggins 13, Chris Artis 4. FG 30, FT 13-19, F 11. (3-pointers: Wiggins 3, Williams 3, Farmer 2, Artis 1. Fouled out: none).