Steward records triple-double in Sikeston’s 95-92 win over Confluence Prep

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Sikeston Bulldogs were hit hard with graduation from last year’s 25-1 team, so there were a lot of question marks heading into Friday night’s season-opening game at Confluence Prep Academy.

However, the Bulldogs may have answered some of those questions after a wild, yet exciting, 95-92 win over the state-ranked Titans in St. Louis.

Sikeston rallied from a 14-point deficit and built a 16-point advantage, only to withstand a furious CPA charge in the final minutes to hold on for the win.

“It was tough,” Sikeston senior Payton Howard said. “We started pretty bad, but we kept grinding and kept working, and coach told us we were going to win the game. We believed in him, and that’s what we did.”

Howard, who is the lone returning starter from last year, finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Rebounding was one of the concerns coming into the game, but senior Clark Steward was up to the challenge as he grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds to go with his 16 points and 10 assists, notching the first triple-double in his career. Steward joins former Bulldogs J.T. Jones and Fred Thatch as the only players to accomplish the feat under Gregg Holifield, now in his 22nd year at the school.

“I don’t focus on stats, I just try to do what I can to help my team win,” Steward said. “Normally I’m the tallest player on the court for our team, so I know my job is to rebound, and when teams are double-teaming Payton I know it’s my job to get the ball up the court, so those assists just came from me trying to make the right pass and make the right play.”

Friday also marked Steward’s first game back after having his knee repaired in April, but he showed no ill effects.

Sikeston led 7-2 early, but CPA’s full-court pressure gave the Bulldogs fits and led to numerous fast-break layups. The Titans built a 27-16 lead in the first quarter, but a Colby Henson 3-pointer trimmed the gap to 27-19 at the end of the period.

CPA held its most significant lead of 14 points in the second quarter, but Sikeston settled down and managed to cut the lead to 46-39 by halftime.

The third quarter was all Sikeston as the Bulldogs out-scored CPA 31-13.

Sikeston did it by shredding the CPA press and getting layups on the back end, eventually taking the lead and holding a 70-59 edge heading into the fourth quarter.

“Our energy turned the game around, and then we got the momentum at the start of the third quarter and just kept it going from there and did a lot of the right things and kept the energy,” Howard said.

The Bulldogs appeared ready to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter as Howard scored a layup, and Leroy Atkins followed up with a fast-break dunk to extend the lead to 74-59. A Steward free throw made it 75-59.

Sikeston still held an 88-72 lead after a Nick Harrison basket with less than four minutes remaining. CPA showed no quit, though, and ratcheted up the pressure even more, eventually trimming the Bulldog lead to 94-90 after a Devin Phillips 3-pointer with 30 seconds left.

The Bulldogs turned it over again, and Phillips was left wide open for a three in the corner, but it was off the mark. The ball caromed out of bounds off the Bulldogs, leaving CPA with another chance with 20 seconds left, but Phillips’ off-balance three-pointer on the ensuing inbounds play hit the backboard standard out of bounds, giving the ball back to Sikeston.

Howard then got fouled with 13 seconds left. He hit 1 of 2 from the line to make it 95-90. Sikeston conceded a CPA layup on the ensuing possession, but with no timeouts left, the Titans were powerless to stop the clock. The Bulldogs did not need to inbound the ball, and the clock ticked down to zero.

Atkins tied Howard for team-high scoring with 19 points to go with his five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Lontas McClinton added 17 points with six rebounds and seven assists.

Henson drained four 3-pointers en route to scoring 14 points. Harrison chipped in eight points with six boards.

Trasean White scored 16 of his team-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. Kameron Bevel and Caleb Helm each had 18 points.

“Anytime you can win, it’s great,” Steward said. “That team is extremely athletic, and it was a tough first game, but I was proud of the way our guys came out and battled, getting down early and then the way we fought back and never gave up.”

Sikeston received the fourth seed in next week’s SEMO Conference Tournament held at the Sikeston Field House. The Bulldogs will play fifth-seeded Jackson Tuesday at 5:30 in the opening round.

 

SIKESTON (95) — Payton Howard 19, Leroy Atkins 19, Lontas McClinton 17, Clark Steward 16, Colby Henson 14, Nick Harrison 8, Kenyon Smith 2. FG 37, FT 16-23, F 15. (3-pointers: Henson 4, Atkins 1. Fouled out: none).

CPA (92) — Trasean White 24, Kameran Bevel 18, Caleb Helm 18, Devin Phillips 15, Rahji Howard 7, Korey Lawrence 5, Kenny Chamberlain 3, Derrick McKay 2. FG 38, FT 11-17, F 23. (3-pointers: Phillips 3, Bevel 2. Fouled out: Bevel).

Junior varsity

After capturing first place in the Notre Dame Junior Varsity Invitational over Thanksgiving, the Sikeston JV team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 71-50 win over CPA.

Cleo Taylor led Sikeston with 21 points, 20 rebounds, seven blocked shots, and five steals. Adrian Smith followed up with 18 points, and Johnny Adams had 18 points and eight steals.

 

 

SIKESTON (71) — Cleo Taylor 21, Adrian Smith 18, Johnny Adams 18, Creighton Sarakas 8, Tyler Owens 5, Nilen Sharkey 1. FG 27, FT 11-28, F 14. (3-pointers: Smith 3, Sarakas 2, Adams 1. Fouled out: none).

CPA (50) — Kenny Chamberlain 18, Darric Williford 12, Gabe Butler 8, Ralph Times 5, Mike Brown 3, Jaron Woodson 2, Arryon McGee 2. FG 20, FT 5-9, F 21. (3-pointers: Chamberlain 2, Brown 1, Williford 1, Times 1. Fouled out: Times).