Sikeston rolls over Riverview Gardens in season opener, 86-42

DE SOTO, Mo. – The Sikeston Bulldogs come into the 2023-24 season with high expectations and the team did not disappoint in its opening game on Monday in the first round of the Fountain City Classic at De Soto High School.

Sikeston, seeded first in the tournament, dispatched of eighth-seeded Riverview Gardens in dominating fashion with an 86-42 victory over the Rams.

The Bulldogs advance to the semifinals of the tournament where they will play fifth-seeded Fort Zumwalt West on Friday at 7 p.m.

In Monday’s game, Sikeston swarmed the Rams from the opening tip with an aggressive man-to-man defense, forcing 25 turnovers in the contest, most of which led to fast-break layups.

“I was really pleased with our intensity on defense,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “It’s the first game and we’ve still got a long ways to go defensively. We’ve got so much to work on. But we did a lot of good things tonight. We pressured the ball well and that helped us force some turnovers that led to some offense on the other end.”

Sikeston 6-foot-5 senior Dontrez Williams, a recently signed Abilene Christian recruit, led all Bulldog scorers with 17 points along with his eight rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes of action.

Williams is a returning all-state player for Sikeston’s 22-8 quarterfinal team from a year ago.

“I thought Dontrez did a lot of good things,” Holifield said. “He’s such a good player and can score from anywhere on the floor and he has great length defensively. I really think he’s going to have a great season.”

Following up Williams was 6-2 junior P.J. Farmer, a transfer from Charleston who finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Farmer was an all-state player for Charleston the last two years.

“P.J. did a great job of getting everyone involved in the offense,” Holifield said. “He’s such an outstanding passer and playmaker.”

Junior guard Tristan Wiggins scored 14 points with four rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Lekereon McCray added nine points and four steals while junior guard Chris Artis added eight points with four rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore Kobe Thomas came off the bench for eight points, five re bounds and four assists. Trace Sadler, the Bulldogs’ 7-foot junior, swatted away a team-high five shots while altering several others.

The Bulldogs racked up 24 assists as a team.

“That’s one thing we constantly talk about, sharing the basketball,” Holifield said. “We have unselfish players and we did a great job of looking for the open man tonight.”

The Bulldogs forced six turnovers in the first four minutes of action leading to an 11-3 advantage, giving a preview of how the rest of the game would progress.

Sikeston rolled up a 26-15 lead after one quarter of play.

Riverview Gardens drained three 3-pointers in the opening quarter to hang tough, but Sikeston blew the game wide open in the second quarter, out-scoring the Rams 30-9 as the Bulldogs took a 56-24 lead into halftime.

Sikeston continued its onslaught in the third quarter, building an 80-37 advantage heading into the final quarter where reserves finished out the remainder of the game.

“I thought for our first game we played well as a team,” Holifield said. “We just have to work every day in practice and try to improve. That’s our goal, to get better and be the best we can be by district tournament time.”

Riverview Gardens 15 9 13 5 -- 42

Sikeston 26 30 24 6 -- 86

RIVERVIEW GARDENS (42) – Calvin Nash 19, Rico Lumpkins 14, Stephon Brown 3, Dymarion Caster 2, Jeron Barry 2, Jayden Anthony 2. FG 17, FT 0-0, F 13. (3-pointers: Nash 5, Lumpkins 2, Brown 1. Fouled out: none).

SIKESTON (86) – Dontrez Williams 17, P.J. Farmer 16, Tristan Wiggins 14, Lekereon McCray 9, Chris Artis 8, Kobe Thomas 8, Trace Sadler 4, Ben James 2, J’kwon Applewhite 2, Jaharus Goodwin 2, Isaiah Jimmerson-Patterson 2, Malachi Davis 2. FG 36, FT 11-14, F 10. (3-pointers: Thomas 2, Wiggins 1. Fouled out: none).