Shooting woes plague St. Mary's in Class 4 quarterfinal loss to Sikeston
St. Mary's seniors Donovan Austin and Dominic Mitchell had their jerseys covering their faces and their heads down as the final seconds of the Class 4 boys basketball quarterfinal counted down Saturday at Jefferson College.
Austin, Mitchell and eight other seniors realized their high school careers were over as the Dragons picked the absolute worst time for one of their poorest shooting games of the season.
The Dragons converted just 21 of 60 field goals, four of 22 3-pointers and 4 of 13 free throws. That was the recipe for defeat against Sikeston, which never trailed and won going away, 76-50.
Sikeston (27-2) moved to the state semifinals at JQH Arena in Springfield. The Bulldogs take on Grandview of Kansas City in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday. Grandview defeated Logan-Rogersville 81-46 in another Class 4 quarterfinal.
"It was simple," St. Mary's senior Yahuza Rasas said. "They made their shots and we did not. We wanted this so badly. It was our goal since our freshman year, but we let it slip away."
Sikeston had four players in double figures led by Kevin Jones, who had 18.
The Dragons (27-4), who were looking for their first state semifinal appearance, were cold from the outset.
St. Mary's scored just two points in more than five minutes to start the game but did come back and trailed 9-8 late in the first quarter.
Sikeston went on a 10-0 run encompassing the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter, increasing a 14-10 lead to 24-10.
St. Mary's didn't get the deficit to single digits the rest of the way.
Yuri Collins had 12 points in the first half for the Dragons but the rest of the team combined for just 10 and the Dragons trailed 33-22 at halftime.
The Dragons continued their poor shooting and Sikeston turned numerous defensive rebounds into easy layups on the other end.
Things went from bad to worse for St. Mary's, which trailed by as many as 27 points.
St. Mary's had a pair of players in double figures Saturday. Collins led the way with 16 while Rasas had 12.
"In the end it comes down to developing winners in life," St. Mary's coach Bryan Turner said. "It doesn't always show on the scoreboard. We did not win on the scoreboard today, but these guys are winners. They are fabulous kids and I enjoyed this journey with them. At this point of the year there are going to be tears of pair and tears of joy. I am very proud of these guys. We just picked a bad time when we couldn't hit a free throw or a jump shot.
"Sikeston is a good team and they have been in these situations before. This was unchartered waters for us. I feel bad for the 10 seniors that it had to end like this." - Bill Heste of the St. Louis Post Dispatch