Sikeston ends Central's winning streak

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Enough.

Central senior guard Andrew Williams is tired of seeing Sikeston.

The Bulldogs beat up the Tigers twice during the football season and added a second victory in boys basketball with Friday's 75-57 win in a much-anticipated matchup between state-ranked teams at a crowded Sikeston Field House.

"Knowing that they're the better team and we're done playing them, I'll probably just say they're the better team and I'll take my chances somewhere else," said Williams, who also was a starter on the football team. "They had a better game tonight -- a good crowd, better intensity and they didn't miss a shot. We came out and gave them a good punch, but it was their night tonight."

Central hadn't lost since senior guard Curtis Branch joined the starting lineup in early January. That gave the Tigers hope that Friday would be their chance to exact some revenge on Sikeston, which is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 4. The Bulldogs quickly ended those hopes, just like they did in the SEMO Conference tournament in December and the two meetings between the schools on the gridiron.

Central's T.J. Tisdell grabs a rebound away from Sikeston's Keldon Warfield during the second quarter Friday in Sikeston, Mo. Sikeston won 75-57. (Kristin Eberts)

"Our coaches have harped on us about how they were going to have Curtis back and about how much better of a team they were going to be," Sikeston senior Corey Porter said. "Ever since that SEMO Conference title we won back earlier in the season, that's kind of been the talk of Southeast Missouri. We tried not looking at this game until we figured out Wednesday that this was our next game."

Sikeston scored the game's first eight points and forced five Central turnovers before the Tigers scored their first points. Central never led.

"We have to set the tempo and the pace, and we were fortunate to do that," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "Cape, they do such a good job of controlling tempo and that's what makes them so good. We knew it would be difficult to do, but luckily we were able to do that in the first quarter."

The Bulldogs (21-0) attacked from outside and found success. They went 4 of 7 from 3-point range in the first quarter and capitalized on Central's nine first-quarter turnovers to build an 18-11 lead after the opening quarter.

"They pressure the ball," Central coach Drew Church said. "They trap. They get you to turn the ball over and they get you to play their game. They shot it extremely well. Sometimes when a team is shooting the ball that well from the outside, everything else just kind of clicks. Tonight was just their night for sure."

Central's T.J. Tisdell gets a hand on the ball as Sikeston's Corey Porter goes up for a shot during the fourth quarter Friday in Sikeston, Mo. Central lost 75-57. (Kristin Eberts)

Sikeston managed to force the Tigers to shoot from outside, especially in the first half. Nine of the Tigers' 19 shots came from 3-point range in the first half, which was what Sikeston wanted.

"We have mismatch situations inside and we really work hard trying to keep the basketball out of there," Holifield said. "They did a good job moving the basketball and getting open looks. That's one of our objectives is to try to take the inside out as much as we can."

Central did a better job in the second half of going inside, especially senior James Lane. He finished with a game-high 22 points, including 16 in the second half. But Church said his team needed to start attacking inside earlier in the contest.

"I think we were kind of settling," Church said. "We were taking what's easy. It's easy for us to take the first open shot so we don't have to deal with the pressure. We've got to grind it out, work the ball a little bit, not take the first so-so shot we see. We've got to get the ball inside. The second half, I think we started to do that but not nearly enough."

Williams, who drained four 3-pointers, said Porter was a big reason why the Tigers didn't enjoy much success near the basket.

Central coach Drew Church eyes the scoreboard during the fourth quarter Friday in Sikeston, Mo.

"We were trying to get it inside, but they had big Porter inside and they had good guys with quickness and length, and it's hard to get some shots up there," he said.

Central ended up shooting 37 percent (7 of 19) from 3-point range compared to 38 percent (9 of 24) for the Bulldogs.

The teams actually shot almost the same percentage from the field in the first half -- Central was at 42 percent and Sikeston at 45 -- but the Bulldogs took 12 more shots than the Tigers in the first 16 minutes.

"We knew we had to get into a half-court game and try to slow it down," Williams said. "But their guards are so fast and quick it's hard to get it past half court without speeding it up. Then once we get it down there, we'd make turnovers and they'd come back down and hit more shots. Them playing fast just makes us want to play fast. They're just a really good team."

The loss ended Central's 10-game winning streak and dropped the Tigers to 17-4. But Church said Friday's game will serve his team well when the postseason arrives in just more than a week.

"We needed to play in a game like this -- a big-time atmosphere against a team that's extremely athletic and extremely good," he said. "We needed to play a game like this and we needed to remember what it feels like to lose. We needed to remember this feeling and go back to practice and remember we don't want to feel like this again after a game."

Central 11 15 10 21 -- 57

Sikeston 18 20 17 20 -- 75

CENTRAL (57) -- T.J. Tisdell 10, James Lane 22, Curtis Branch 9, Andrew Williams 9, Zach Boerboom 3, Blake Ozbun 1. FG 19, FT 12-18, F 12. (3-pointers: Williams 4, Branch 3. Fouled out: none)

SIKESTON (75) -- Darryl Howard 15, Corey Porter 14, Terry Jamison 8, Will Holifield 9, Janeil Hatchett 12, Eldridge Gibson 5, Kil'Ron Coleman 2, Vashawn Ruffin 7, Caleb McGee 3. FG 26, FT 14-20, F 14. (3-pointers: Howard 2, Jamison 2, Holifield 3, Ruffin 1, McGee 1. Fouled out: none)