Sikeston soars past Notre Dame in SEMO Conference opener, 78-40

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – For one quarter, the Notre Dame Bulldogs gave their home fans a thrilling ride.

Then Sikeston showed everyone in the gym why they are the No. 1 team in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 5 rankings as the Bulldogs cruised to a 78-40 SEMO Conference victory at Notre Dame Regional High School on Friday night.

“Every time we go to Notre Dame we see a great crowd and a great atmosphere,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “It’s always a lot of fun to play them. It’s a great way for us to start conference play.”

It didn’t start so well for Sikeston as Notre Dame’s Logan Landewee drained a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the first quarter to give his team a 14-12 lead.

Notre Dame’s home crowd erupted into a deafening roar when the first quarter horn sounded, applauding their team’s effort.

However, with the packed gymnasium rocking and all the momentum seemingly on the home team’s side, Sikeston responded with a 19-2 run to take control of the contest and end any notion of an upset.

Notre Dame (1-5, 0-2 SEMO Conference) could never recover as Sikeston’s pressure defense forced 23 turnovers and limited scoring opportunities.

Notre Dame went five minutes without scoring in the second quarter as Sikeston outscored them 28-10 in the period to take a 40-24 halftime lead.

“I thought defensively we did a really good job of pressuring the basketball,” Holifield said. “I thought our effort was good. It put us in position to create some points off turnovers.”

Sikeston (7-0, 1-0 SEMO Conference) also scorched the nets against Notre Dame’s zone, draining a sizzling 11-for-18 (61 percent) from 3-point range through the first three quarters.

Mop-up minutes in the fourth quarter dropped the percentage a bit, but the statement was clear – the Bulldogs have deadly 3-point shooters.

“We have good 3-point shooters and our guys put in a lot of time,” Holifield said. “Assistant coach Will [Holfiield] puts in a lot of time with those guys on drive and kicks and knocking down the 3-pointers. We put in a ton of reps. All that hard work shows. We hit 11 3-pointers and shot a great percentage and that’s an area that we put a lot of emphasis on.”

Leading the charge once again for Sikeston was 6-foot-5 all-state guard Dontrez Williams, who led all scorers with 23 points to go with his six rebounds, six steals and three assists – not to mention his four crowd pleasing slams that kept the large contingent of red Bulldog fans entertained.

“I thought he played a complete game,” Holifield said of Williams. “He was attacking the rim and knocked down some 3’s. He was good defensively and put great pressure on the basketball. It was a complete game.”

In the second quarter, sophomore Kobe Thomas drilled a corner 3, and then a rebound by P.J. Farmer and assist for a Williams slam gave the Bulldogs a 31-16 lead with 3:33 left in the half.

Notre Dame regrouped with three baskets over the next couple minutes, but a conventional 3-point play by Thomas and then a jaw-dropping follow-up slam from an out-of-nowhere Williams swung the momentum back in Sikeston’s favor.

A Farmer steal-and-layup gave the Bulldogs a 40-22 lead before the home Bulldogs got a late basket from Hudson Dennis heading into the half.

Farmer also had a statistical monster night in just three quarters, accounting for 10 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals as he flirted with an exceptionally rare quadruple-double.

“I just thought he played very well,” Holifield said of Farmer. “He just fills the stat sheet up. He also had a complete performance offensively and defensively. He’s such a sound, heady player that makes all of his teammates better.”

In the third quarter, Sikeston picked up where they left off as they outscored Notre Dame 31-11.

Junior guard Tristan Wiggins continued his hot shooting, scoring eight of his 17 points in the third quarter. He hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the game.

“Tristan played very well,” Holifield said. “He really shot the basketball well and defensively he’s one of the better defenders in the area. He works hard at it and takes pride in his defense.”

Sikeston’s defense caused 10 Notre Dame turnovers in the third quarter alone, leading to more exciting fast-breaks for the Bulldogs – but Sikeston’s hot perimeter shooting (five 3-pointers) helped put the game away.

Williams’ night ended in grand fashion when he came up with a steal and finished off the break with a one-handed windmill dunk with 1:30 left in the third quarter as he exited the game to a standing ovation from the Sikeston faithful.

The Bulldogs’ lead reached its largest spread at 71-31 after a conventional 3-point play by J’kwon Applewhite with 50 seconds left in the third.

Sikeston out-scored Notre Dame 59-21 in the second and third quarters.

The mercy clock put a swift end in the fourth quarter.

Thomas finished with a varsity season-high 12 points, hitting 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.

“Kobe’s a great shooter and he really gives us a big lift off the bench,” Holifield said. “He’s very controlled, especially for a sophomore. He’s always patient and under control.”

Sikeston will host Normandy on Tuesday at the Field House. Junior varsity action will tip off at 6 p.m.

Sikeston 12 28 31 7 -- 78

Notre Dame 14 10 11 5 -- 40

SIKESTON (78) – Dontrez Williams 23, Tristan Wiggins 17, Kobe Thomas 12, P.J. Farmer 10, J’kwon Applewhite 5, Lekereon McCray 5, Jaharus Goodwin 4, Chris Artis 2. FG 30, FT 7-10, F 17. (3-pointers: Wiggins 4, Williams 3, Thomas 3, Applewhite 1. Fouled out: Trace Sadler).

NOTRE DAME (40) – Brett Dohogne 11, Kolton Johnson 10, Hudson Dennis 8, Will Henry Steward 4, Logan Landewee 3, Brody Harden 2, Carson Essner 2. FG 16, FT 4-4, F 13. (3-pointers: Johnson 2, Landewee 1, Dohogne 1. Fouled out: none).

Junior varsity

The Sikeston J.V. team, playing in its first game in 23 days, rolled past Notre Dame’s junior varsity 68-52.

Sikeston, which last played on Nov. 22 when it won the Notre Dame JV Invitational Tournament, improved to 4-0 on the season.

The team was led by Will Lape’s 23 points, hitting 7 of 12 from 3-point range. Drake Williams added 11 points while Ben James had nine points, four rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Kobe Thomas had seven in a half of action while Jaharus Goodwin grabbed five rebounds with five assists.

Sikeston 22 19 13 14 -- 68

Notre Dame 9 8 15 20 -- 52

SIKESTON (68) – Will Lape 23, Drake Williams 11, Ben James 9, Kobe Thomas 7, Pierce Baker 5, Jaharus Goodwin 4, Malachi Davis 4, Jamison Sifford 3, Jerrodrick Ware 2. FG 27, FT 3-3, F 20. (3-pointers: Lape 7, Baker 1, James 1, Thomas 1, Williams 1. Fouled out: none).

NOTRE DAME (52) – Max Legrand 12, Colton Landewee 11, Gabe Jones 8, Hudson Dennis 6, Dylan Neumann 5, Alex Wagoner 4, Dylan Rubel 4, T.J. Bolen 2. FG 21, FT 8-15, F 5. (3-pointers: Landewee 1, Neumann 1. Fouled out: none).