Sikeston defeats Borgia in a battle of state-ranked titans

UNION, Mo. – In a battle of state-ranked powers, the Sikeston Bulldogs toppled the St. Francis Borgia Knights in the championship game of the 62nd Annual Union Invitational Tournament.

Sikeston, ranked No. 1 in Class 5, defeated Class 4 No. 2 ranked Borgia 69-57 in a game that had a playoff atmosphere at Union High School on Saturday night.

The game was a rematch of last year’s championship game, also won by Sikeston 71-68.

Sikeston celebrates after defeating Borgia 69-57 in the championship game of the 62nd Annual Union Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.Submitted by Jason Rudisill

However, unlike last year, the Bulldogs dominated the second half and put the game away midway through the fourth quarter.

“It’s a great win for our program,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “I’ve coached against Borgia for years and we have a ton of respect for that program and coach [Dave] Neier. This is a very quality win against a very good team.”

The victory marked Sikeston’s fourth tournament championship this season.

Sikeston celebrates after defeating Borgia 69-57 in the championship game of the 62nd Annual Union Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.Submitted by Jason Rudisill

Sikeston (17-0) closed the game out with a big fourth quarter.

Bulldog sophomore Kobe Thomas opened the period with a 3-pointer to expand the lead to 51-38, but the Knights scored five straight to cut the deficit to an eight-point game.

Baskets by P.J. Farmer, Lekereon McCray and a conventional 3-point play by Tristan Wiggins opened up a 58-43 lead with 4:36 left in the game.

Borgia (18-2) never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.

With 3:35 left, senior Dontrez Williams hit a back-breaking 3-pointer after Chris Artis rebounded a miss and kicked out to Williams for the open 3, extending the lead to 61-47.

Moments later, after Borgia had scored a basket, McCray sank a 3-pointer to essentially put the game on ice for the Bulldogs. A McCray offensive putback on his own missed free throw gave Sikeston its biggest lead of the night at 69-52 with a minute left in the game.

“I’ll tell you what, they’re awfully tough,” Neier said. “If this isn’t their best team, it’s one of the best teams that they’ve had. They just do so many good things.”

One area Sikeston did a lot of damage was in the rebounding department.

“They just killed us on the boards,” Neier said. “They get in there and rebound like crazy. The other thing is, any time you make a mistake they take off and it seems like they’ve got a layup on the other end. You don’t really get a chance to play defense. Those are a couple things that killed us, but those are the things that they’re best at.”

Most of Sikeston’s opponents this season have wilted against the pressure defense the Bulldogs apply, but Borgia and its seasoned ball-handlers were not fazed much in the first quarter as the Knights jumped out to an 8-3 and a 10-5 lead.

Sikeston quickly responded with a 7-0 run capped by an offensive rebound by McCray, forcing Neier to call an early timeout.

Borgia took a 14-12 lead, but Williams and McCray scored consecutive baskets to give Sikeston a 16-14 advantage after one quarter.

Sikeston only forced two turnovers on the Knights in the first quarter.

“Both teams played very well and took care of the basketball in the first quarter. They settled in and did a good job against our pressure,” Holifield said.

Borgia reclaimed the lead on a 3-pointer to open the second quarter, but Williams scored on an offensive putback and then finished a fast-break with a two-handed slam to take a 20-17 advantage.

Moments later, on one of the most impressive plays of the night, Sikeston threw an outlet pass that was nearly out of Farmer’s reach, but he jumped and caught the pass in mid-air and threw a no-look, behind his head pass to Wiggins to finish the layup, drawing a loud roar of approval from the large contingent of Bulldog fans making the 3-hour trek to Union on a nasty, rainy night.

Borgia standout Adam Rickman scored consecutive baskets inside to tie the score at 22-apiece, but the Bulldogs scored seven straight capped by a Williams 3-pointer to lead 29-22.

Sikeston never trailed again.

The Bulldogs finished 7 of 18 (39 percent) from 3-point range as a team.

“They have some great shooters,” Neier said. “If they’re open, man they’re putting that 3 in. They’re tough enough driving the ball so you’ve got to respect that. It’s just hard to cover all of that.”

Borgia cut the lead to 31-25, but Farmer tipped in a missed shot just before the halftime buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 33-25 lead.

Sikeston did not let up in the third quarter as Wiggins scored a layup plus the foul, and then Artis splashed a 3 from the corner to lead 39-27.

Borgia would never go away, trimming the lead back to 43-36. With the momentum clearly on the Knights’ side and in desperate need of a basket, Sikeston got one in a big way when Farmer found Williams for a back-door lob dunk with 1:15 left in the quarter.

On the ensuing trip, Farmer tipped in a missed shot to lead 47-36.

It was that kind of night for the Bulldogs who seemed to have an answer every time Borgia would make a run.

“We know what kind of team Borgia is and we put an emphasis on rebounding. I was very pleased with how we took care of the boards tonight,” Holifield said.

Sikeston snatched 38 rebounds in the game, including 15 on the offensive end.

Williams was selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. In the championship game he finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.

“He’s had a great week,” Holifield said of Williams. “Defensively he did a great job of protecting the rim and rebounding. He just had a great tournament overall.”

Farmer had his biggest game of the tournament on Saturday as he led the team with 19 points to go with his nine rebounds and nine assists. He joined Williams in being selected to the all-tournament team.

“Just an overall complete game,” Holifield said of Farmer. “He does such a great job with the basketball in his hands, but he does so many other good things out there.”

Also, McCray wrapped up an all-tournament performance on Saturday with 14 points and seven rebounds.

“Very solid week for Lekereon offensively and defensively,” Holifield said.

Wiggins, who did the bulk of the defensive work inside on the 6-foot-6 Rickman, finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Rickman finished with 17 points.

“I thought Tristan really controlled the game defensively,” Holifield said. “He did a great job guarding Rickman, who is an outstanding player. We don’t win this game tonight without Tristan’s defense and also Chris Artis’ defense. Those two give us great effort on that end of the floor.”

Thomas (six points) and Artis (five points) rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs.

With the win on Saturday, the Bulldogs evened the all-time series with Borgia at three games apiece. The two first met in the Class 4 state championship game in 2006, a game Borgia won 77-62. Borgia then eliminated Sikeston in the Class 4 quarterfinals in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010.

Sikeston finally beat Borgia in 2011 to capture the Class 4 state championship, and now have beaten the Knights the last two seasons at the Union Tournament.

Neier, a coaching legend and Missouri Hall of Famer with over 800 career wins, says he always looks forward to playing against Sikeston and fellow Hall of Famer Holifield, who sits at 592 career victories.

“You know they’re going to play hard,” Neier said of Sikeston. “You know they’re going to give you the best competition that you can play against. And your team is going to learn something against them. So win or lose you’re going to get better playing against a team like that. They put pressure on you defensively and they go out there and play hard and get after you and they play as a team. They’re just well-coached. They do things right. They’re going to be tough for any team to beat.”

__SIKESTON 69, BORGIA 57__

Borgia 14 11 13 19 -- 57

Sikeston 16 17 15 21 -- 69

BORGIA (57) – Adam Rickman 17, Brody Denbow 14, Tate Marquart 10, Nathan Kell 6, Harry Mitchell 6, Kaden Pattke 4. FG 24, FT 4-7, F 12. (3-pointers: Marquart 3, Pattke 1, Rickman 1. Fouled out: Rickman).

SIKESTON (69) – P.J. Farmer 19, Dontrez Williams 17, Lekereon McCray 14, Tristan Wiggins 11, Kobe Thomas 6, Chris Artis 5. FG 28, FT 9-11, F 12. (3-pointers: Williams 3, Thomas 2, Artis 1, McCray 1. Fouled out: none).