Sikeston pulls away late, dusts Cape Central 63-44 in battle of SEMO Conference heavyweights

SIKESTON — The Sikeston Bulldogs are trying to make this special season one to remember come March.

They’re more than halfway there.

PJ Farmer scored a game-high 24 points in his latest brilliant performance, Lekereon McCray added 13, and Sikeston got past Cape Central 63-44 on Friday, Feb. 14, to take sole possession of first place in the SEMO Conference.

"Early on, we weren't making the shots that we wanted to make," Farmer said. "We knew in the second half that we were going to have to come out strong and make those shots that we weren't making in the first half. And, ultimately, the second half went our way a lot more."

Sikeston (20-3), which has now won 10 of its last 11, was in a dogfight in the opening three quarters before taking control late, much to the delight of a lively Homecoming Night crowd at the Sikeston High School Field House.

Better yet, Sikeston and coach Gregg Holifield have become a nemesis to their conference rival, beating Cape Central (15-7) six straight times since 2023. The Bulldogs sprinted past the Tigers 90-52 in the SEMO Conference Tournament finals back in mid-December, and now they are in the driver’s seat to run away with a conference title at the expense of Cape Central.

"Cape came in well-prepared and did a great job controlling the tempo in the first half," Holifield said. "I thought we responded and did a much better job in the second half of controlling tempo. But give Cape a lot of credit. They were very physical, tough and well-coached."

Tristan Wiggins scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Chris Artis added eight points for the high-octane Bulldogs, which shot 22-of-44 (50%) from the field and forced 21 turnovers on the defensive end.

Farmer was the star of the show, shooting at a sharp 58% clip to go along with six steals, five rebounds, and three assists. The senior was also 8-of-10 from the charity stripe.

"He is just such a ball player and does a lot of great things," Holifield said of the future SEMO Redhawk. "And you get great effort every day. Just a tremendous attitude and SEMO is getting a really good player."

Cape Central came out strong, crafting a 12-7 lead by the end of the first quarter behind slam dunks from senior Mar’K Mills and sophomore Goliath Morris-Young.

That's before Sikeston caught fire with the Bulldogs’ defense helping them turn the Tigers over and over. Sikeston scored eight straight points in a run that featured a pair of layups from McCray. A Jaidyn Johnson long-distance 3 put the Tigers back up 19-17 with 3:01 left.

Sikeston then climbed in front 25-23 at halftime behind back-to-back Farmer layups and a last-second steal and fast-break layup from Artis.

The Bulldogs led for the vast majority of the ensuing half, but never led by more than four points in the third as Cape Central refused to die down.

However, the final eight minutes belonged to the home team.

After taking a 46-42 lead into the fourth quarter, Sikeston reverted to form and used a 9-0 run to build a 13-point cushion with 5:15 remaining. Wiggins scored six of his 12 points in the frame, including a beautiful second chance layup with three minutes left to put the finishing touches on the night.

"We really just stick to what we know every game," Farmer said. "Every game is just fast-paced. We try to not let teams slow us down, honestly. They dictated the first half and slowed us down a lot. They kept the points down more in the range of where they wanted to keep it at. But we changed the second half by speeding the pace up and they didn't like it."

Sikeston has now defeated its conference opponents by an average of 31.3 points per game so far this season, with a pivotal Senior Night matchup against Jackson (19-4) in the headlights next Friday.

"The biggest thing is we're getting healthy," Holifield said. "I think right now we're as healthy as we've been all year. We've had a couple of hiccups, but, not to make excuses, we went through the flu and all that, and every team in the area has. It's been that type of year, but fortunately, right now, knock on wood, we're healthy. I think we can improve and get better each day."

Despite the loss, Cape Central should get a boost in the postseason with a healthier Mills, who missed last Saturday’s game against Principia and was limited against New Madrid County Central on Tuesday with a lower-leg injury.

The shooting guard dropped six points, while Morris-Young had a team-high 14 for a Cape Central offense that started hot, but shut down and missed several point-blank shots in the final quarter.

"To be brutally honest, with the way the game ended, we still have some guys that are not completely 100% bought in," head coach Lamont Frazier said. "That's something that will be corrected over the next 24 to 48 hours. In a game like this, we still have guys that are not going to contribute to this team simply because things aren't going their way. When you're in a game like this, you can't have that, so that's my biggest takeaway at this point.

"Sikeston is a very good basketball team. I thought our guys played well, but we weren't able to control the controllables."

The Bulldogs return to the hardwood on Tuesday, Feb. 18, for a road test at New Madrid County Central (5-14) at 7:30 p.m. Cape Central will look to bounce back on Tuesday, Feb. 18, with a home game against Charleston (11-10) at 7:30 p.m.