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Sikeston falls to Farmington in battle of state-ranked teams
FARMINGTON, Mo. – The Farmington Knights served notice to the state that they may have something to say when the district tournament comes around in March.
Farmington, ranked ninth in the state in Class 5, defeated the state’s No. 1 ranked team Sikeston 81-74 at the Black Knight Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
The game is a possible district preview with both Sikeston and Farmington competing in Class 5, District 1 – to be held at the Black Knight Fieldhouse.
“You have to give Farmington credit, they came out and played really well,” Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. “We knew they were a good team and we knew we would have to play well to beat them. Farmington has good size and they have good shooters. But we didn’t execute well enough to beat a team of that caliber.”
Sikeston found itself trailing through most of the night, but a late rally put the Bulldogs in a position to pull off the victory.
Sikeston (10-2) took a 72-71 lead on a Kobe Thomas 3-pointer with 2:40 left and got the ball back on a Trace Sadler block and rebound.
However, the Bulldogs turned it over and fouled Logan Schaupert, who made the first free throw. He missed the second and Tatem Tinsley rebounded the miss and scored to give the Knights a 74-72 lead.
It was a back-breaker for the Bulldogs.
Sikeston missed its next scoring opportunity and was forced to foul the rest of the game as they never got closer than two.
Sikeston’s final chance came with eight seconds left and trying to inbound the ball on the sideline trailing 78-74, but a 5-second violation was called against the Bulldogs.
Holifield was visibly displeased and argued that the count was fast, but to no avail.
Farmington inbounded the ball and the Bulldogs were forced to foul. Holifield was then whistled for a technical, giving the Knights four straight free throws and possession of the ball to essentially seal the game as they made 3 of 4 from the charity stripe.
Farmington’s free throw shooting was the biggest difference as they made 12 of 18 in the fourth quarter and were 23 of 30 in the game.
Sikeston only made 3 of 9 in the game.
“We’re normally a good free throw shooting team and tonight we struggled,” Holifield said. “It was definitely a difference in the game. They hit theirs and we didn’t.”
The Bulldogs faced their fair share of adversity in the game and the team’s depth was tested like never before this season.
Junior guard Marquel Murray missed the game due to illness. Junior post Jaharus Goodwin injured his ankle early in the game and never returned. And all-state guard P.J. Farmer left the game with two minutes to go with leg cramps and never returned.
It forced Holifield to shuffle his lineups more than usual.
“Our depth was tested a bit, but we have guys who can play and step up to fill holes,” Holifield said. “At times we made some mistakes, but they are correctable mistakes. We did not handle certain situations very well tonight, but that’s why we play these games. So we can learn from mistakes and get to work on them in practice so it doesn’t happen again.”
Sikeston started the game well, opening up a 16-11 lead on a Kobe Thomas layup, but Farmington rallied back to take a 19-18 lead.
A Sadler dunk gave the Bulldogs a 20-19 lead after one quarter of play.
However, the Knights took control of the game in the second quarter and carried a 40-35 lead into halftime.
“We weren’t guarding like we needed to,” Holifield said. “They hit some shots, some of them very deep, and that’s a credit to them. But we were leaving them open and that’s got to be corrected.”
In the third quarter, Farmington led by as much as 57-49 on a Schaupert 3-pointer.
Sikeston finished the quarter strong with a Tristan Wiggins basket, and back-to-back 3-pointers by Thomas and Wiggins to trim the lead to 60-57.
The Bulldogs were able to gain the upper hand in the fourth quarter, but the team was not able to close it out.
The Bulldogs showed signs of rust after having not played since Dec. 28 when they won the St. Dominic Christmas Tournament.
"We weren't sharp tonight, but that's no excuse," Holifield said. "We've had good practices and we should've been ready to go. You just have to credit Farmington for making things difficult for us."
Sikeston was led by Sadler’s 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Wiggins scored 14 points with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Farmer scored 14 points with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Thomas added 11 points while Lekereon McCray had 10 points with four assists and three steals. Chris Artis chipped in with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Bulldogs were 9 of 26 (35 percent) from 3-point range.
Farmington was led by Schaupert’s 23 points. Ryder Gallaher followed up with 20 points while 6-foot-6 standout Cannon Roth added 19 points.
The Knights hit eight 3-pointers in the game.
“They are a very experienced, senior-laden team and you can tell they played with a sense of urgency tonight,” Holifield said. “They’re having a great season and we know they will be very difficult to beat come district tournament time.”
The Knights’ victory is a monumental one for Farmington – Tuesday’s win is their first against Sikeston in 21 years, last defeating the Bulldogs in 2004.
It snapped a 22-game losing streak to Sikeston.
Sikeston will be back on the road on Friday when they take on Class 5 state contender St. Mary’s Southside with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
Junior varsity
The Sikeston J.V. team improved to 4-1 on the season with a 69-46 win over Farmington.
Sikeston was led by Ty Murray with 16 points on 8 of 8 shooting. He also had six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Will Lape followed up with 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers. Drake Williams grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Christian Gibson had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Freshmen
Sikeston’s freshmen (4-1) won the first game of the triple-header, 75-66 over Farmington’s freshman team. Quay Allen led the team with 20 points followed by Khayden Dunnavant with 17 points and Jay Ray with 13 points.
| Sikeston | 20 | 15 | 22 | 17 | -- | 74 |
| Farmington | 19 | 21 | 20 | 21 | -- | 81 |
SIKESTON (74) – Tristan Wiggins 14, Trace Sadler 14, P.J. Farmer 14, Kobe Thomas 11, Lekereon McCray 10, Chris Artis 9, Marcus Sanders 2. FG 31, FT 3-9, F 20. (3-pointers: Wiggins 3, Thomas 3, McCray 2, Farmer 1. Fouled out: Artis).
FARMINGTON (81) – Logan Schaupert 23, Ryder Gollaher 20, Cannon Roth 19, Cooper Tripp 11, Tatem Tinsley 5, Austin Knight 2, Grayson Street 1. FG 25, FT 23-30, F 12. (3-pointers: Schaupert 4, Gallaher 3, Tripp 1. Fouled out: Roth).