Sikeston rallies from early deficit to pin conference loss on Central

Sikeston won its sixth straight game with an 88-70 road victory against SEMO Conference rival Central on Friday night.

The Bulldogs (15-6, 5-2 SEMO), overcame a nine-point first-quarter deficit.

The Tigers (12-10, 2-5 SEMO) led 41-39 at halftime, but the Bulldogs took control in the third quarter and never trailed again.

"We just hung in there and got some baskets when we needed them," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "I kept telling [assistant] coach [Brian] James, 'We've got to keep it close.' We hung in there and we went into halftime only down two, so I knew we had a shot."

Sikeston led 57-54 entering the fourth quarter and pulled away by hitting 13 of 17 from the free throw line in the final period.

"That's by far our worst half of the year in the second half," Central coach Derek McCord said. "They did whatever they wanted to do the entire second half.

"Hopefully it's a good wake-up call for the Tigers."

Sikeston freshman Michael Porter led all scorers with 28 points, including 21 in the second half. Porter scored 14 of Sikeston's 31 points in the final period.

Sikeston junior Julian Beard tallied 25 points with seven rebounds and four assists. Isaac Porter followed up with 13 points and nine rebounds.

"We played well for 2 1/2 quarters," McCord said, "but it's a four-quarter game. Give them credit. Julian Beard and Michael Porter absolutely dominated us on the boards in the fourth quarter.

"We got dominated on the glass and we stopped boxing out," he added. "We gave up too many second and third shots. That was the difference in the game."

Central was led by senior David Deisher's 24 points. Darnell Wilks, a 6-foot-8 junior, had 18 points.

"We tried to stay in front of him and not let him get to the basket," Holifield said of Wilks. "He's such a good player and you can see his potential is unlimited. He's going to get an opportunity to play somewhere really good because he's going to get better and better."

Central plays its final home game today against Mehlville before returning to SEMO Conference action Tuesday at Charleston.

SIKESTON 88, CENTRAL 70

Sikeston 17 22 18 31 -- 88

Central 24 17 13 16 -- 70

SIKESTON (88) -- Julian Beard 25, Blake Taylor 7, Courtney Beasley 2, Ray Rodgers 2, Michael Porter 28, Rod Moore 9, Isaac Porter 13. FG 33, FT 22-30, F 17 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (70) -- Adrian Cox 10, Jajuan Bell 9, Darnell Wilks 18, Jeremy Kimble 9, David Deisher 24. FG 23, FT 15-19, F 23 (3-pointers: Wilks 2, Bell 1. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Central def. Sikeston, OT