Sikeston takes down Cape Central; repeats as district champs

BONNE TERRE, Mo. – All season long Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield has talked about one team – the Cape Central Tigers.

He knew that if the top-seeded Bulldogs were to capture a district title, the Tigers would be the team they would have to go through once again. 

Holifield’s Bulldogs, for the second straight year, won the Class 5, District 1 title by defeating the second-seeded Tigers 78-67 on Tuesday night at North County High School.

Sikeston's Dontrez Williams (1) shoots during a 78-67 win over Cape Central in the MSHSAA Class 5, District 1 Championship at North County High School on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.Photo courtesy of Michael Boyd Jr.

Sikeston (28-1) advances to the Class 5 quarterfinal where they will play at Vianney (23-6) on Saturday at 3 p.m.

One year ago, Sikeston pulled off a shocking upset of the No. 1 ranked Tigers (19-9) in the district final.

This time, Sikeston entered as the favorite, ranked No. 1 in the state with two convincing wins over the Tigers, but Holifield refused to let the same thing happen to his team.

Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield celebrates after a 78-67 win over Cape Central in the MSHSAA Class 5, District 1 Championship at North County High School on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.Photo courtesy of Michael Boyd Jr.

“We knew that Cape Central would be the team that we had to beat and we never stop talking about them,” Holifield said. “The guys probably get tired of me talking about them, but we know how talented they are and we knew we would have to play extremely well to beat them. They shot the ball really well, but I was really pleased with how we guarded and how we attacked them offensively.”

The Tigers did shoot it well, knocking down 13 3-pointers in the game, but Sikeston countered with nine 3-pointers of their own and a relentless attack to the heart of Cape Central’s defense – drawing fouls and getting the Tigers into foul trouble throughout the game.

“They played very well and they shot it very well, but we seemed to have answers on our end. We did a great job of attacking the basket,” Holifield said.

Sikeston's PJ Farmer (24) shoots during a 78-67 win over Cape Central in the MSHSAA Class 5, District 1 Championship at North County High School on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.Photo courtesy of Michael Boyd Jr.

Doing most of the damage on the attack was senior all-state guard Dontrez Williams, who continually pounded the ball right at the Tigers in the paint, scoring a game-high 32 points to go with his seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

“We were attacking the rim and we knew we could score inside against them,” Williams said. “Winning this is a great feeling, especially my senior year. Winning it against them last year and now this year – we knew we had to play great to beat them.”

Early on it was junior guard P.J. Farmer who carried the scoring load, scoring 19 of his 23 points in the first half. He finished with a season-high five 3-pointers and also had nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Sikeston fans celebrate during a 78-67 win over Cape Central in the MSHSAA Class 5, District 1 Championship at North County High School on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.Photo courtesy of Jason Rudisill

“Great team win and a great team effort. We played hard. It’s a good team win for us,” Farmer said. “C.J. [Chris Artis] always comes in with good intensity on the defensive end. Tristan [Wiggins] is probably the best defender in the state. He always goes hard on the defensive end. Trace [Sadler] had some big plays and some big rebounds and Dontrez was dominating them. It was just a good team win overall.”

The game started with a frantic pace as Cape Central's Max Vogel splashed a 3-pointer on their opening possession only to see Farmer find Williams on the other end for a thunderous two-handed jam to erupt the enormous Bulldog crowd that flooded into North County High School.

Both teams were firing from 3-point range as the Tigers hit five 3-pointers and the Bulldogs made four in the opening quarter.

Sikeston celebrates after a 78-67 win over Cape Central in the MSHSAA Class 5, District 1 Championship at North County High School on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.Photos courtesy of Michael Boyd Jr.

The Tigers led by as much as six at two different junctures in the first quarter, but Sikeston rallied to trim the lead to 22-20 on two Farmer free throws.

However, Cape Central’s Jay Reynolds weaved his way up the floor and banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 25-20 lead.

Sikeston took the game over in the second quarter.

After Vogel hit another 3-pointer to extend the lead to 28-22, Sikeston responded with a 7-0 run with Williams scoring on a drive and knocking down a pair of free throws and then Farmer hitting a 3-pointer to take a 29-28 lead.

The two teams traded the lead over the next few minutes, but Williams scored consecutive baskets followed by another Farmer 3-pointer and then a Williams drive to take a 40-33 lead into halftime.

Williams and Farmer combined for 36 of Sikeston’s 40 points in the first half.

“It was a huge lift for us,” Holifeld said. “I thought Cape Central had really played well and for us to go into halftime up seven was a big difference in the game. Both Dontrez and P.J. played great and they really carried us tonight offensively.”

Sikeston controlled the game from that point. Cape Central continued to rain down 3-pointers, but the Bulldogs seemed to have a response each time.

The Bulldogs broke out to a double-digit lead when 7-foot junior Trace Sadler followed up a missed shot with a putback and then Williams snatched a rebound and drove coast-to-coast for the layup to lead 52-42.

Later in the quarter, Cape Central’s TySeandre’ Edwards scored on a jumper, but Sikeston executed their last-second offense to perfection as Farmer penetrated and found Wiggins in the corner for a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 57-46 lead.

The Tigers never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

In the fourth quarter a Williams free throw gave the Bulldogs the biggest lead of the night at 66-51 with 3:41 left.

The Tigers continued to hit 3-pointers down the stretch, but they couldn’t stop the Bulldogs from scoring.

Sikeston junior Lekereon McCray had huge plays in the second half, scoring eight of his 11 points. He also had five rebounds and two steals.

“Lekereon is a gamer,” Holifield said. “He always steps up with big plays on both ends of the floor. I thought he really played well.”

Wiggins finished with 10 points and five assists. Sadler had six rebounds and Artis’ defense did not go unnoticed by his teammates.

“C.J. and Tristan, their defense was amazing tonight,” Williams said. “But it’s not only them, everybody was solid tonight.” 

Southeast Missouri State signee Jay Reynolds led Cape Central with 19 points. Marquel Murray had 13 points followed by Vogel with 11. Tyson Williams scored 10.

Tuesday’s win marked the 14th district championship the Bulldogs have won in Holifield’s tenure at Sikeston. It’s the school’s 28th district championship overall.

Sikeston and Cape Central have met nine times with a district championship on the line in Holifield's career, with the Bulldogs winning seven of those games.

Now Sikeston will turn its sights to Vianney, which defeated St. Mary’s 80-73 in the District 2 championship. According to MSHSAA.org, the quarterfinal game is scheduled to be played at St. John Vianney High School, a gymnasium with a seating capacity of 900, in St. Louis on Saturday, March 9 at 3 p.m.

“We’ve got a 7-footer and they’ve got a 7-footer. It’s going to be a great matchup,” Williams said.

__SIKESTON 78, CAPE CENTRAL 67__

Cape Central 25 8 13 21 — 67

Sikeston 20 20 17 21 — 78

CAPE CENTRAL (67) – Jay Reynolds 19, Marquel Murray 13, Max Vogel 11, Tyson Williams 10, TySeandre’ Edwards 8, Matayo Rivers 6. FG 23, FT 8-12, F 21. (3-pointers: Reynolds 4, Vogel 3, Rivers 2, Williams 2, Murray 1, Edwards 1. Fouled out: Edwards).

SIKESTON (78) – Dontrez Williams 32, P.J. Farmer 23, Lekereon McCray 11, Tristan Wiggins 10, Trace Sadler 2. FG 27, FT 15-24, F 13. (3-pointers: Farmer 5, Williams 3, Wiggins 1. Fouled out: none).