Sikeston bests Notre Dame boys for title

DEXTER, Mo. -- Sikeston's defense harassed Jacob Tolbert all night Friday.

Notre Dame's standout big man struggled to get the ball, which stifled his team's offense.

"They were limiting his touches," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "We needed to find a way for him to touch the ball. It's hard for him to score when he doesn't touch it. ... All year, he's been our leader offensively. We go as he goes at times."

By the time Tolbert caught fire, it was too late. Sikeston's lead was too large to overcome, and it emerged with the Class 4 District 1 title with a 63-52 victory.

"They just packed it in on us," Tolbert said. "We tried to work it around and they played harder than us the first part. We came out in the second half and turned it up a little bit but it was too late."

Notre Dame's Jacob Tolbert shoots as Sikeston's JuQualin Wiggins defends during the second quarter of Friday's Class 4 District 1 championship game in Dexter, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Sikeston limited Tolbert to eight points on five shots in the first half. He also went 2 of 6 from the free-throw line.

"The biggest thing we were doing is we were trying to put pressure on the basketball to try to make it hard to get it in to him," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "Then when he would catch it, we were able to collapse around him. He's going to get his points. He's such a good player."

Sikeston led 34-18 at halftime, but Tolbert helped Notre Dame make a run in the second half. He went 5 of 7 from the field and scored 15 points in the second half.

"I was more aggressive," Tolbert said of the second half. "It's what I should have been doing the whole game. I couldn't really get anything going in the first half. The second half, this is it. Win or go home. I went for it but came up a little bit short."

Notre Dame's outside shooting didn't help pull Sikeston away from the basket. Notre Dame relies on its 3-point shooters to alleviate some defensive pressure against Tolbert, but the long-distance shots weren't falling Friday. Notre Dame shot 27 percent (4 of 15) from 3-point range.

Notre Dame's Keke Kellum drives against Sikeston's Eli Jackson during the third quarter of the Class 4 District 1 championship Friday at Dexter. (Fred Lynch)

"They guarded Jacob with one man," Roberts said. "They didn't have to double too much, so that left their guards out there to guard our guards. They did a tremendous job defensively."

Notre Dame (21-6) kept Sikeston (20-3) in its sights in the first quarter, but Sikeston started pulling away in the second quarter. Sikeston went on a 9-0 run late in the second quarter to push its lead to 31-14. The run was sparked by Sikeston's defense, which forced 13 Notre Dame turnovers in the first half.

"It was just their speed and they played harder than us at the beginning there," Notre Dame senior Liam Maher said. "It was kind of hard to get adjusted to it."

Sikeston's pressure defense didn't allow Notre Dame to find an offensive rhythm during the first half. Notre Dame shot 33 percent (6 of 18) from the field in the first half.

"We just should have slowed it down," Tolbert said. "Everyone was trying to score. We had time. Everyone was thinking we've just got to get a shot off right here, right now, and it wasn't that way. We should have played a little bit smarter."

Notre Dame's Dylan Essner grabs a pass away from Sikeston's Terry Jamison during the second quarter.

Sikeston enjoyed a 16-point lead after three quarters and appeared on its way to defending its district title. But Notre Dame refused to go quietly. Notre Dame opened the quarter on a 14-5 run to get within seven with 3 minutes, 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

"We were just trying to play really hard," Notre Dame senior Nick Koeppel said. "We were just making stupid passes in the first half. We just decided to do the smart thing and make sure the person's open we were passing it to."

Sikeston stopped the run with a pair of free throws by Janeil Hatchett, but Maher answered with a bucket to make it 57-50 with 2:50 left. That's as close as Notre Dame would get. Sikeston reeled off five consecutive points to end Notre Dame's hopes for a rally.

"We always felt, even when we were down 16, we had a chance," Maher said. "It just didn't go that way."

Holifield said his team's defensive intensity changed in the fourth quarter, which allowed Notre Dame to make its run.

Notre Dame's Nick Koeppel takes control of the ball from Sikeston's Eli Jackson during the fourth quarter.

"The fourth quarter, we started being a little tentative I guess you could say," he said. "We've got to keep the pedal on the floor and keep pushing. The fourth quarter, I thought we started standing a little bit."

It was the second consecutive year that Sikeston beat Notre Dame in the district championship game. Notre Dame had beaten Sikeston in the two district title games before that, including 2008 when Notre Dame went on to win the state title.

"They kind of took us out of what we wanted to do," Roberts said. "We turned it over. We dug ourselves a hole there and we spent the whole second half trying to dig out of that hole."

Sikeston 14 20 16 13 -- 63

Notre Dame 9 9 16 18 -- 52

SIKESTON (63) -- JuQualin Wiggins 19, Eli Jackson 9, Darryl Howard 8, Janeil Hatchett 5, Terry Jamison 5, Will Holifield 9, Corey Porter 6, Kil'Ron Coleman 2. FG 19, FT 22-33, F 20. (3-pointers: Jamison 1, Holifield 2. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (52) -- Nick Koeppel 8, Liam Maher 8, Ke-Ke Kellum 3, Alex Carroll 2, Luciano Starling 4, Jacob Tolbert 23, Matt Helle 4. FG 19, FT 10-19, F 23. (3-pointers: Maher 2, Kellum 1, Starling 1. Fouled out: Helle, Carroll)