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TOP DOGS: Sikeston boys basketball hits 12 3-pointers in rout over Notre Dame
SIKESTON — Each game, Sikeston continues to prove why they are one of the best teams in the state of Missouri at Class 4.
On Friday night, the Bulldogs continued their undefeated season, by defeating Notre Dame 90-53, in front of a full crowd at the Sikeston Field House.
Sikeston (6-0) got off to a hot start, leading 29-16 after the first quarter and 52-31 going into halftime, with continuous ball movement wearing out the Bulldogs.
“That’s the key to our success,” Sikeston head coach Gregg Holifield said. “We got to move that basketball. You know, that’s how we play. We whip the basketball, I thought in the first half — in the second quarter — we got to dribbling too much, and we had to adjust and talk about that, but our guys are constantly looking for each other, and that’s the key to our offensive success.”
Sikeston is averaging 86 points per game this season and can beat opponents in different ways.
The one constant for this team, though, is efficient shooting from 3-point range.
Against Notre Dame, the Bulldogs shot 12-of-20 from the perimeter, with four players connecting on multiple attempts. Owen Long hit five 3-pointers, while Kevin Jones, Payton Howard, and Leroy Atkins each hit a pair.
Owen Long and Trey Jenkins led the way for Sikeston with 19 points each and were two of the four Bulldogs to reach double-digit scoring. Howard finished with 18 points, while Parker Long finished with 11.
Howard finished the night 7-of-14 from the floor, and for him, staying aggressive for the entire game was critical.
“I just know great shooters start their approach early,” Howard said. “Just stay aggressive, everybody tells me to be aggressive, so that’s what I decided to.”
Defensively, the Bulldogs also caused problems — forcing 21 Notre Dame turnovers.
Helping out an already talented Sikeston team with turnovers was one thing that Notre Dame head coach Paul Unterreiner said that his team could not do.
“In order for us to beat them, we have to slow the game down, and we have to make sure our live-ball turnovers our minimum,” Unterreiner said. “One of the things we told our guys before this game, 10-second calls and 5-second calls are our best friends tonight. If you are bringing it up in the backcourt and we’re approaching 10 seconds, don’t just throw it, because a thrown one is a guaranteed two.
“Take it out, giving us a chance to play defense — we had a chance. I thought we had some boneheaded turnovers that led to points and things got out of control quickly. I love my guys fight and guys effort tonight, it’s just what kind of effort do we want to put in between games so that in districts, this doesn’t happen again.”
Without 6-5 senior Thomas Crippen — who suffered a concussion nearly one week ago — on the floor for Notre Dame, the Bulldogs took advantage of the size mismatch by utilizing Jenkins in the post.
Jenkins shot 7-of-10 from the floor, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, to add on to his four rebounds.
“I thought he was doing a good job offensively,” Holifield said. “Our guys are doing a good job looking for him. We did some good things offensively, and Trey was getting good position, and he worked very well.”
Playing at a faster speed is how Sikeston can control the game and rattle teams.
Notre Dame, on the other hand, does not play that way, and Sikeston noticed that and took advantage of it early.
“I thought our tempo and pressure in the first half kind of dictated things, and we did a good job of that I thought,” Holifield said. “Their guys were up working, and we forced the issue. Notre Dame, I think they are a quality team, they’re going to be a really difficult team to beat. They’re going to get things going; I was proud of the effort. They’re so hard to go against, very well-coached, and they’re tough and hard-nosed. I knew they would play well.”
A poor shooting night also hurt Notre Dame.
The Bulldogs shot 21-of-46 from the floor and only made three of their 15 shots from beyond the arc.
Justice Thoma led all scorers with 21 points. He shot 8-of-14 from the floor, and grabbed three rebounds and was a bright spot that the coaching staff certainly noticed.
“He’s been working a lot on his shot, and it’s definitely getting better,” Unterreiner said. “I got on to him a little bit because he started just going out there all the time, and we wanted him working the high post because we thought he could score, and he did score a lot in there. He’s continuing to grow as a player for us; we just got to continue to work on him. Just different, little things. His high energy offensively, needs to translate on both ends and he’s getting there, but he had a good game for us tonight, that’s for sure.”
| Notre Dame | 16 | 15 | 15 | 7 | — | 53 |
| Sikeston | 29 | 23 | 24 | 14 | — | 90 |
NOTRE DAME (53) — Justice Thoma 21, Carter Dame 11, Jack Floyd 4, Tyler Parker 4, Tyler Landewee 4, Brayden Eftink 3, Kam Dohogne 2, Braden Noel 2, Caleb LeGrand 2. FG 21, FT 8-13, F 23. (3-pointers: Thoma 2, Eftink. Fouled out: none)
SIKESTON (90) — Trey Jenkins 19, Owen Long 19, Payton Howard 18, Parker Long 11, Kevin Jones 6, Leroy Atkins 6, Clark Steward 3, Colby Henson 3, Tra Ranson 2, Nick Harrison 2, Lontas McClinton 1. FG 31, FT 16-24, F 18. (3-pointers: Owen Long 5, Howard 2, Jones 2, Atkins 2, Henson. Fouled out: none)
JV — Sikeston won 71-68