Sikeston hot shooting takes down state-ranked Borgia to win Union tourney

UNION, Mo. – When the bracket for the 61st Annual Union Invitational Tournament was released, it just seemed inevitable that Sikeston would meet up with its old nemesis, St. Francis Borgia, in the championship game.

The game did not disappoint on Saturday night as second-seeded Sikeston upset top-seeded and No. 3 Class 5 ranked Borgia 71-68 in a championship final that saw the Bulldogs hold off the Knights with lights out 3-point shooting and just enough free throws in the end.

“First of all we’re playing a great team,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “We’ve had a lot of travel this week and I was really proud of our team. The guys have worked really hard and it’s carried over into games. I thought our kids really came out and played aggressive offensively and defensively. We were fortunate to knock some shots down, but we were taking good shots and our kids have that ability.”

It was one of Sikeston’s strongest shooting performances of the year as they hit a season-high 14 3-pointers, making 14 of 24 (58 percent).

The 3-point shooting started early as sophomore Lekereon McCray drained a corner 3 on the opening possession.

It was a sign of things to come as the Bulldogs hit their first six 3-pointers in the game and finished the first quarter hitting 7 of 10.

The hot shooting allowed Sikeston to build a 26-11 lead, before Borgia stole a pass for a layup just before the buzzer.

“We did not expect them to come out and shoot like that,” Borgia coach Dave Neier said. “We saw the game before against Union and in the first half they had trouble making a 3-point shot, and in our game they had trouble missing a 3-point shot. Everything was going in for them. It dug a pretty big hole for us.”

Sikeston’s shooting cooled off a bit in the second quarter as Borgia was able to dig into the lead, trimming the gap to 39-30 by halftime.

“We just wanted to sustain and maintain,” Holifield said. “We knew they were going to make a run and they did, but we were able to settle down a bit and hold onto our lead.”

With Borgia continually nipping at Sikeston’s heels and threatening to get back into the game in the third quarter, the Bulldogs always seemed to find an answer with a timely 3-pointer, one each from Dontrez Williams, McCray and Tristan Wiggins.

Borgia (18-3) got as close as three points in the third quarter, but a transition layup from Creighton Sarakas and a 3-pointer from Wiggins pushed the lead back to 50-42 with two minutes left in the period.

However, the Knights got a 3-pointer from Kaden Patke to cut the lead to 50-45 heading into the fourth quarter.

Borgia’s Brody Denbow hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter to cut the Bulldog lead to two, but on the ensuing possession Sarakas answered with a 3-pointer in transition to the silence the large Borgia crowd.

When Borgia 6-foot-6 standout Adam Rickman scored to make it a one-possession game on the next possession, Wiggins responded with a conventional 3-point play on the other end to push Sikeston’s lead back to 56-50.

After Williams drew a crucial charge on Rickman on Borgia’s next possession, Sarakas buried an NBA range 3 from the top of the key to extend the lead to 59-50 with five minutes left.

“Those were huge shots and he played very well on both ends of the floor,” Holifield said of Sarakas. “Creighton is a great shooter and he really stepped up and hit some big ones tonight.”

Later in the quarter, Borgia’s Grant Schroeder hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to three, but once again Sikeston answered, this time with a 3-pointer from the corner by Wiggins to extend the lead to 64-58 with two minutes remaining.

Wiggins scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to earn all-tournament honors.

“He really clutched up and had some big drives to the basket,” Holifield said of Wiggins. “Plus he’s great defensively. He really played a great tournament.”

After that point Borgia was forced to foul.

McCray was the recipient and was faced with three straight 1-and-1 situations. He made 4 of 6 to help keep Borgia at bay. Chris Artis also hit 1 of 2 from the line with seconds left.

However, some late game desperation by the Knights paid dividends as Schroeder drilled two straight 3-pointers and scored on a drive to the basket.

The game appeared to be in the bag as the Bulldogs led 71-65 with 10 seconds remaining following a Borgia turnover.

However, a turnover on the inbounds by the Bulldogs led to a 3-pointer by Schroeder with five seconds left.

After a timeout, Borgia then stole another inbounds pass, but the Knights’ Sam Dunard could not get off a clean shot as time expired, leading to a raucous celebration by the Bulldogs and cheerleaders at midcourt.

“We were fighting back the whole game,” Neier said. “From start the finish they had the lead and just went after it. We were hoping that last shot would go in but he really didn’t get a good look. Sikeston really defended him well on that last play.”

Williams was selected as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player as he controlled both ends of the court, scoring 16 points with eight rebounds, three steals and four blocked shots.

“Dontrez Williams, what an outstanding ball player he is,” Neier said. “He’s tough to defend. He made some big shots for them. But the thing is it wasn’t only him. Other guys came in and put some big 3’s in and it just seemed like nobody could miss.”

McCray was 4 of 4 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Sarakas was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc to finish with 11 points.

Artis led the team with four assists.

“Holy cow I’ll tell you they are a relentless team,” Neier said of Sikeston. “They’re a young team that’s just going to keep getting better. They have an outstanding coach. They have an outstanding program. I think their kids stand for the right things and they work hard and you can tell it on the court all the time.”

Rickman, who scored his 1,000th point in the game that drew a long applause from the Borgia faithful, finished with 23 points. Schroeder scored 20.

Borgia also shot it well, hitting 10 3-pointers in the game.

The victory assured Sikeston of its 18th straight winning season.

The game was the fifth matchup between Sikeston and Borgia, but the first one that occurred in the regular season.

Neier, who is a Hall of Fame coach in his 36th season at Borgia, was looking forward to a possible matchup against Sikeston. The last game between the two programs came in 2011 when Sikeston defeated Borgia to win the Class 4 state championship. Borgia won the previous three matchups in 2006, 2009, and 2010, stopping Sikeston short of its state title quests.

“It’s fun playing them,” Neier said. “We were looking forward to it when we heard they were in the Union Tournament. I told my guys, ‘I just hope we have an opportunity to play a team like that.’ For one thing you learn so much. We’re probably going to play some teams like that down the line with that kind of quickness and that kind of pressure on defense.”

Sikeston will play against SEMO Conference foe Dexter on Tuesday at the Sikeston Field House. It will be Sikeston’s first home game since Dec. 19. Junior varsity is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m.

Sikeston 26 13 11 21 -- 71

St. Francis Borgia 13 17 15 23 -- 68

SIKESTON (71) – Tristan Wiggins 22, Dontrez Williams 16, Lekereon McCray 16, Creighton Sarakas 11, Chris Artis 4, Quemariae Gray 2. FG 23, FT 11-17, F 13. (3-pointers: McCray 4, Wiggins 3, Williams 3, Sarakas 3, Artis 1. Fouled out: none).

ST. FRANCIS BORGIA (68) – Adam Rickman 23, Grant Schroeder 20, Brody Denbow 8, Kaden Patke 6, Tate Marquart 6, Nathan Kell 3, Drew Fischer 2. FG 26, FT 6-13, F 17. (3-pointers: Schroeder 3, Denbow 2, Marquart 2, Patke 2, Kell 1. Fouled out: none).