Good article by Derek James... .. . HaPpY NeW YeaR 2019... C =|~
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T. DOMINIC CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT: Sikeston wins eighth championship in nine years, with 67-66 win over Ft. Zumwalt South
Sunday, December 30, 2018
By Derek James ~ Standard Democrat
Fort Zumwalt South's Grant Stephens (15) is defended by Sikeston's Owen Long (30) during a championship game of the 25th annual St. Dominics Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at Saint Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Mo. (Gordon Radford/Special to the Standard Democrat)
O’FALLON, Mo. – The Sikeston Bulldogs have not faced much adversity this season, winning most of their games by lopsided margins.
Saturday night in the championship game of the 25th Annual St. Dominic Christmas Tournament, the top-seeded Bulldogs found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter against second-seeded Ft. Zumwalt South.
However, Sikeston rallied in the final four minutes to eke out a 67-66 win to capture their eighth St. Dominic Tournament championship in nine years in front of a packed house at St. Dominic High School.
Sikeston junior Payton Howard’s free throw with 22 seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs a 67-66 edge. Needing a stop Sikeston’s defense came up big as senior guard Kevin Jones forced Zumwalt South star E.J. Bellinger to pass the ball to a teammate.
Sikeston's Kevin Jones brings in a rebound during a championship game of the 25th annual St. Dominics Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at Saint Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Mo. (Gordon Radford/Special to the Standard Democrat)
With the clock winding down, Zumwalt South’s J.J. Schwepker got off a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Sikeston’s Clark Steward partially blocked it, leaving it well short as the final horn sounded, prompting a celebration among the Bulldog players.
“This win means a lot,” Jones said. “We came up here and won this tournament all four of my years. There were two great teams going at it with two great coaches. The crowd was into it, and the players were into it. It was a very emotional game.”
Ft. Zumwalt South coach Bill Friedel said they got the ball to the right shooter – Schwepker had four 3-pointers and 22 points in the game.
“We thought we had a good play that would work, but they did a good job of guarding it,” Friedel said. “We thought we had an open 3, but it just got tipped.”
The game started well for Sikeston as they raced out to a 12-2 lead after a Parker Long 3-pointer. The Bulldogs led by as much as 17 points in the first quarter at 26-9 after a Howard 3-pointer, but a Bellinger basket made it 26-11 after one quarter.
A Howard basket to open the second quarter matched Sikeston’s biggest lead of the night at 28-11, but things began falling apart for the Bulldogs after that.
Foul troubles mounted for Sikeston and Zumwalt South’s Bellinger and Schwepker took the game over. Bellinger, a 6-foot-4 senior who has signed with Belmont University, had 16 points in the quarter while Schwepker, a 6-5 junior sharpshooter, had 12 in the quarter.
“Early we just turned the ball over,” Friedel said. “I mean that’s what Sikeston does to you, but a lot of it was unforced turnovers. Once we settled in and got a few shots to go then it started rolling, and we got out and ran a little bit, and they got in some foul trouble which helped.”
When the smoke cleared, Zumwalt South had stormed to a 42-35 lead.
Long’s 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer lessened the damage heading into the locker rooms though, as the Bulldogs trailed 42-38.
“I thought we played very well in the first quarter,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “Honestly I thought, in the second quarter, we were flat and didn’t play our style. Defensively we didn’t do a good job.”
Bellinger and Schwepker had combined for 35 of South’s 42 points in the first half.
Howard said that those two players were discussed heavily at halftime.
“They’re real good, especially their two shooters that combined for 35 in the first half,” Howard said. “We focused hard on trying to stop them in the second half.”
The third quarter saw the lead change hands four times, but it was South that finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 55-50 at the end of three.
The fourth quarter saw six more lead changes. Bellinger’s 3-pointer with a minute left in the game tied the score at 66-66.
Sikeston (9-0) then worked patiently for a shot as they burned seconds off the clock. Howard, who finished with 16 points, penetrated and drew a foul with 22 seconds left.
He missed the first free throw but swished his second to give his team the lead.
“I missed the first one, so the last one I just wanted to be sure to make it. I just wanted to find my stroke, and thankfully it went in,” Howard said.
That led to the final sequence where Steward’s block preserved the victory.
“Great defense. Good help by Clark on the shot at the end,” Howard said.
Howard was more assertive on offense on this night, finding gaps to penetrate after having trouble finding the range from beyond the arc.
“I just decided to be more aggressive,” Howard said. “I wasn’t feeling my shot too much early, so I decided to attack the rim more and get my shot inside the paint.”
Long led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range to go with his five rebounds and three assists. Twin brother Owen Long had 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Jones struggled from the field all night long, but he came up with critical plays down the stretch. He scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, came up with two crucial steals and also had a dazzling assist to Steward to give the Bulldogs a 65-63 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
“Coach [Chris] Sarakas told me, ‘get a rebound, get a steal, get a layup, get a free throw’ and I did that,” Jones said. “My shot wasn’t falling, but I could make up for it on defense. My team came up big tonight. Big shout-out to them.”
Sikeston’s Trey Jenkins battled foul trouble the entire game before fouling out. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds in minimal minutes.
“I thought we responded in the second half and we somewhat pulled together as a team,” Holifield said. “We faced some adversity. Trey probably played eight minutes in the game. Our guys responded very well and stuck together. We always say ‘winning breeds winning.’ Our guys are used to winning and when you get in those situations a lot of times great things happen. I thought our guys all pulled together.”
Bellinger led all scorers with 28 points followed by Schwepker’s 22 points. The two combined for 15 points in the second half.
“You can see why Belmont wants Bellinger – he’s an outstanding player,” Holifield said. “Zumwalt South is always very well-coached. It’s always a very tough, competitive game and tonight was no different. We’ve played them a few times, and it’s gone down to the last second. They’re always a super quality opponent, and this game will only help us.”
This meeting was the fifth time that Sikeston and Ft. Zumwalt South have met in the championship game with Sikeston claiming victory in four of those games. Zumwalt South gave Sikeston its only loss in the tournament in 2014, an 82-80 overtime win.
“In our program, we want to win championships,” Friedel said. “It does hurt, we wanted to finish first, but we lost to a great team, a great program. We’re about 1-5 against them. It’s always great games. It was a good high school atmosphere. Fun game. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”
Ft. Zumwalt South (9-2) was ranked as high as third in Class 5 in the state poll, but Bellinger missed several games with a broken thumb which contributed to an early season loss.
Parker Long, Jenkins and Jones all earned All-Tournament team honors.
Sikeston ranked No. 1 in Class 4 in the state, will play at Charleston in a SEMO Conference matchup next Friday.
Ft. Zum. S. 11 31 13 11 — 66
Sikeston 26 12 12 17 — 67
FT. ZUMWALT SOUTH (66) – E.J. Bellinger 28, J.J. Schwepker 22, Judah Nunn 6, Jake Patton 4, Grant Stephens 4, Connor Bekebrede 2. FG 22, FT 15-18, F 15. (3-pointers: Schwepker 4, Nunn 2, Bellinger 1. Fouled out: none).
SIKESTON (67) – Parker Long 20, Payton Howard 16, Owen Long 12, Trey Jenkins 10, Kevin Jones 7, Clark Steward 2. FG 24, FT 12-16, F 14. (3-pointers: P. Long 4, O. Long 2, Howard 1. Fouled out: Jenkins).
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T. DOMINIC CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT: Sikeston wins eighth championship in nine years, with 67-66 win over Ft. Zumwalt South
Sunday, December 30, 2018
By Derek James ~ Standard Democrat
Fort Zumwalt South's Grant Stephens (15) is defended by Sikeston's Owen Long (30) during a championship game of the 25th annual St. Dominics Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at Saint Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Mo. (Gordon Radford/Special to the Standard Democrat)
O’FALLON, Mo. – The Sikeston Bulldogs have not faced much adversity this season, winning most of their games by lopsided margins.
Saturday night in the championship game of the 25th Annual St. Dominic Christmas Tournament, the top-seeded Bulldogs found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter against second-seeded Ft. Zumwalt South.
However, Sikeston rallied in the final four minutes to eke out a 67-66 win to capture their eighth St. Dominic Tournament championship in nine years in front of a packed house at St. Dominic High School.
Sikeston junior Payton Howard’s free throw with 22 seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs a 67-66 edge. Needing a stop Sikeston’s defense came up big as senior guard Kevin Jones forced Zumwalt South star E.J. Bellinger to pass the ball to a teammate.
Sikeston's Kevin Jones brings in a rebound during a championship game of the 25th annual St. Dominics Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at Saint Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Mo. (Gordon Radford/Special to the Standard Democrat)
With the clock winding down, Zumwalt South’s J.J. Schwepker got off a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Sikeston’s Clark Steward partially blocked it, leaving it well short as the final horn sounded, prompting a celebration among the Bulldog players.
“This win means a lot,” Jones said. “We came up here and won this tournament all four of my years. There were two great teams going at it with two great coaches. The crowd was into it, and the players were into it. It was a very emotional game.”
Ft. Zumwalt South coach Bill Friedel said they got the ball to the right shooter – Schwepker had four 3-pointers and 22 points in the game.
“We thought we had a good play that would work, but they did a good job of guarding it,” Friedel said. “We thought we had an open 3, but it just got tipped.”
The game started well for Sikeston as they raced out to a 12-2 lead after a Parker Long 3-pointer. The Bulldogs led by as much as 17 points in the first quarter at 26-9 after a Howard 3-pointer, but a Bellinger basket made it 26-11 after one quarter.
A Howard basket to open the second quarter matched Sikeston’s biggest lead of the night at 28-11, but things began falling apart for the Bulldogs after that.
Foul troubles mounted for Sikeston and Zumwalt South’s Bellinger and Schwepker took the game over. Bellinger, a 6-foot-4 senior who has signed with Belmont University, had 16 points in the quarter while Schwepker, a 6-5 junior sharpshooter, had 12 in the quarter.
“Early we just turned the ball over,” Friedel said. “I mean that’s what Sikeston does to you, but a lot of it was unforced turnovers. Once we settled in and got a few shots to go then it started rolling, and we got out and ran a little bit, and they got in some foul trouble which helped.”
When the smoke cleared, Zumwalt South had stormed to a 42-35 lead.
Long’s 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer lessened the damage heading into the locker rooms though, as the Bulldogs trailed 42-38.
“I thought we played very well in the first quarter,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “Honestly I thought, in the second quarter, we were flat and didn’t play our style. Defensively we didn’t do a good job.”
Bellinger and Schwepker had combined for 35 of South’s 42 points in the first half.
Howard said that those two players were discussed heavily at halftime.
“They’re real good, especially their two shooters that combined for 35 in the first half,” Howard said. “We focused hard on trying to stop them in the second half.”
The third quarter saw the lead change hands four times, but it was South that finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 55-50 at the end of three.
The fourth quarter saw six more lead changes. Bellinger’s 3-pointer with a minute left in the game tied the score at 66-66.
Sikeston (9-0) then worked patiently for a shot as they burned seconds off the clock. Howard, who finished with 16 points, penetrated and drew a foul with 22 seconds left.
He missed the first free throw but swished his second to give his team the lead.
“I missed the first one, so the last one I just wanted to be sure to make it. I just wanted to find my stroke, and thankfully it went in,” Howard said.
That led to the final sequence where Steward’s block preserved the victory.
“Great defense. Good help by Clark on the shot at the end,” Howard said.
Howard was more assertive on offense on this night, finding gaps to penetrate after having trouble finding the range from beyond the arc.
“I just decided to be more aggressive,” Howard said. “I wasn’t feeling my shot too much early, so I decided to attack the rim more and get my shot inside the paint.”
Long led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range to go with his five rebounds and three assists. Twin brother Owen Long had 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Jones struggled from the field all night long, but he came up with critical plays down the stretch. He scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, came up with two crucial steals and also had a dazzling assist to Steward to give the Bulldogs a 65-63 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
“Coach [Chris] Sarakas told me, ‘get a rebound, get a steal, get a layup, get a free throw’ and I did that,” Jones said. “My shot wasn’t falling, but I could make up for it on defense. My team came up big tonight. Big shout-out to them.”
Sikeston’s Trey Jenkins battled foul trouble the entire game before fouling out. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds in minimal minutes.
“I thought we responded in the second half and we somewhat pulled together as a team,” Holifield said. “We faced some adversity. Trey probably played eight minutes in the game. Our guys responded very well and stuck together. We always say ‘winning breeds winning.’ Our guys are used to winning and when you get in those situations a lot of times great things happen. I thought our guys all pulled together.”
Bellinger led all scorers with 28 points followed by Schwepker’s 22 points. The two combined for 15 points in the second half.
“You can see why Belmont wants Bellinger – he’s an outstanding player,” Holifield said. “Zumwalt South is always very well-coached. It’s always a very tough, competitive game and tonight was no different. We’ve played them a few times, and it’s gone down to the last second. They’re always a super quality opponent, and this game will only help us.”
This meeting was the fifth time that Sikeston and Ft. Zumwalt South have met in the championship game with Sikeston claiming victory in four of those games. Zumwalt South gave Sikeston its only loss in the tournament in 2014, an 82-80 overtime win.
“In our program, we want to win championships,” Friedel said. “It does hurt, we wanted to finish first, but we lost to a great team, a great program. We’re about 1-5 against them. It’s always great games. It was a good high school atmosphere. Fun game. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”
Ft. Zumwalt South (9-2) was ranked as high as third in Class 5 in the state poll, but Bellinger missed several games with a broken thumb which contributed to an early season loss.
Parker Long, Jenkins and Jones all earned All-Tournament team honors.
Sikeston ranked No. 1 in Class 4 in the state, will play at Charleston in a SEMO Conference matchup next Friday.
Ft. Zum. S. 11 31 13 11 — 66
Sikeston 26 12 12 17 — 67
FT. ZUMWALT SOUTH (66) – E.J. Bellinger 28, J.J. Schwepker 22, Judah Nunn 6, Jake Patton 4, Grant Stephens 4, Connor Bekebrede 2. FG 22, FT 15-18, F 15. (3-pointers: Schwepker 4, Nunn 2, Bellinger 1. Fouled out: none).
SIKESTON (67) – Parker Long 20, Payton Howard 16, Owen Long 12, Trey Jenkins 10, Kevin Jones 7, Clark Steward 2. FG 24, FT 12-16, F 14. (3-pointers: P. Long 4, O. Long 2, Howard 1. Fouled out: Jenkins).
