Sikeston set to face St. Francis Borgia in Union tourney final

Standard Democrat

UNION, Mo. – The rematch is set – Sikeston versus St. Francis Borgia.

It’s a game that might not hold much weight for anyone still in high school, but tomorrow night’s championship matchup of the 61st Union Invitational Tournament holds a lot of history.

The game was made possible by virtue of second-seeded Sikeston’s 60-41 victory over the third seed and tournament host Union, while Borgia defeated cross-town rival Washington in its semifinal, 67-51 on Friday night at Union High School.

Tipoff for the championship game tomorrow night is set for 7 p.m.

Sikeston’s victory over Union was an impressive defensive performance by the Bulldogs, limiting the Wildcats to just 16 halftime points and still just 32 points before head coach Gregg Holifield cleared his bench with four minutes remaining.

“We have really been working hard on our defensive positioning in practice and that has been carrying over into our games,” Holifield said. “Our defensive pressure was really good tonight and I feel that we were able to take them out of a lot of things that they wanted to do.”

The Bulldogs (13-4) needed the defensive effort since the team’s offense was cold, at least in the first half.

Sikeston led 11-7 after one quarter of play, but never could pull away from the Wildcats until late in the half.

Union (11-7) managed to trim Sikeston’s lead to 20-16 with 1:30 left in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to give the team a bigger cushion heading into halftime, leading 27-16.

“We were missing a few shots that we normally make and we were standing and not moving the ball very well, but Union had a lot to do with that,” Holifield said. “Our defense was able to generate a few transition buckets for us and that helped us settle down some.”

The second half was a different story as Sikeston scored five straight points to lead 32-16, capping a 12-0 that carried over from the first half.

Sikeston junior Dontrez Williams then took the game over, throwing in a two-handed slam and splashing a 3-pointer to take a 37-20 lead.

One of the biggest sequences was a stretch of five straight offensive rebounds by the Bulldogs, eventually culminating with a Harrison Arndt 3-pointer.

Williams then caught fire again, draining another 3-pointer, finishing with a nice spin move in the lane and finishing the fast-break with another jam to open up a 49-26 lead.

Williams scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter. He also had seven steals and a pair of blocked shots.

“Number one [Williams], he’s a special player and he makes everybody around him better,” Union coach Chris Simmons said.

Sikeston led by as much as 56-32 after a Chris Artis free throw prompting Holifield to allow his reserves to finish out the game.

Sikeston forced Union into 21 turnovers in the game, and oftentimes the Wildcats were left passing the ball around the perimeter, unable to get into any kind of offensive flow.

“They’re long, they’re athletic -- they’re so active in that zone and they make it really hard,” Simmons said of Sikeston. “We were just trying to get open shots and it was taking forever when they’re flying around. They communicate well. Their hands are always up. You can tell that they’re well-coached and that they do things the right way. So you have to give them a ton of credit. They wore us down in the second half and hurt us on the glass.”

Artis finished with nine points to go with his five rebounds. Lekereon McCray had seven points and eight rebounds.

Freshman Kobe Thomas led the team with four assists.

Senior Quemariae Gray provided another spark off the bench, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds to go with three charges drawn and three steals.

“I’m really pleased with the way ‘Q’ has been playing,” Holifield said. “He’s worked so hard in practice and has such a great attitude. His great attitude is infectious to the rest of the team. It is great to see things paying off for him in games.”

This is Sikeston’s first-ever trip to Union High School. Simmons said he knows plenty of Sikeston’s success over the years and that the matchup on Friday will be good for his program.

“I’m definitely aware of them, they’re a great program so when I heard they were getting in the tournament I was excited,” Simmons said. “We play a lot of teams in the St. Louis area and Franklin County so to play somebody different and with such a storied tradition as Sikeston, it was a great opportunity for us.”

Now Sikeston will turn its attention to its old nemesis in Borgia, a matchup that is a fun one for the fans and coaches still involved from those battles over a decade ago.

The last time they met was 12 years ago at Mizzou Arena, a game Sikeston won 74-55 to capture their first and only state championship in boys basketball.

Most likely no player on either team’s current roster would remember the game itself, however the coaching staff for both schools is essentially the same and any fan old enough to remember knows what a great playoff rivalry the two became from 2006-2011.

Borgia defeated the Bulldogs in 2006 in the Class 4 state championship game and then in back-to-back quarterfinal games in 2009 and 2010 before Sikeston finally toppled the Knights in 2011.

“We have quite a history with them for several years in a row,” Holifield said. “They have such a great program. We played each other in state championship games and quarterfinal games. It reminds us of a really exciting time. For years we were both 1 and 2 in the state and it was just two teams that competed hard against each other and had respect for each other. They’re really good again this year and we know we have our hands full. We’ve tried to give our team the history and background of our games with them.”

Borgia is 18-2 on the season and ranked third in Class 5, their highest such ranking since 2011.

Union 7 9 12 13 -- 41

Sikeston 11 16 22 11 -- 60

UNION (41) – Kieran Wors 11, Ryan Rapert 9, Liam Hughes 8, Gavin Mabe 4, Karson Eads 4, Trent Bailey 3, Hayden Burke 2. FG 14, FT 9-14, F 17. (3-pointers: Wors 2, Bailey 1, Eads 1. Fouled out: none).

SIKESTON (60) – Dontrez Williams 21, Chris Artis 9, Lekereon McCray 7, Creighton Sarakas 6, Kobe Thomas 5, Tristan Wiggins 3, Harrison Arndt 3, J’kwon Applewhite 2, Ben James 2, Morgan McCauley 2. FG 21, FT 10-16, F 15. (3-pointers: Williams 3, Sarakas 2, Wiggins 1, Arndt 1, McCray 1. Fouled out: none).