By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - In the final game of the Class 4, District 1 Tournament, the No. 3 Notre Dame Bulldogs battled the No. 1 Sikeston Bulldogs. Sikeston held the lead the first three quarters of the contest, but a late offensive surge by Notre Dame saw the ND Bulldogs up by a point early in the fourth quarter. The two teams swapped leads for nearly a minute, but the offensive juggernaut of Sikeston exploded late, putting up 5 points in 10 seconds, and jumping to a 66-52 victory for the District Championship.

Willian Holifield dropped in the first of his four threes for Sikeston early in the first quarter. Sikeston’s defense shut Notre Dame down in the first quarter, and the only shot from the field they gave up was a Joseph Siebert three with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter. Sikeston held a 12-6 lead after the first quarter of play.

Siebert hit his second three of the night for Notre Dame midway through the second quarter, and teammate Jacob Tolbert chipped in five points and four rebounds in the frame. Caleb McGee and Holifield both knocked down trey’s for Sikeston to give the Bulldogs a 28-20 lead going into halftime.

Notre Dame’s picked up their play in the third, holding Sikeston to just 12 points and putting up 20 in the frame. Nathan Meystedt had a big quarter for Notre Dame, contributing 10 points and helping tie the game at 40 apiece after the third.

Sikeston’s offense exploded in the fourth quarter, with Holifield putting in nine points and Janeil Hatchett scoring eight. After a huge play at the 3:15 mark, with Hatchett making a layup, picking off the ensuing inbounds pass, and dumping the ball to Corey Porter for a three point play, the game was Sikeston’s to the end. The Sikeston Bulldogs came out on top over Notre Dame, claiming the District Championship with a 66-52 final score.



With the victory, Sikeston will move on to face Farmington Wednesday (March 2) at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.

Photos above Top Photo: Sikeston’s Vashawn Ruffin drives against Notre Dame’s Nathan Meystedt during Friday night’s District Championship game.
Bottom photo: Kl’Ron Coleman tries to squeeze a shot between Notre Dame’s Joseph Seibert (No. 14) and Jacob Tolbert (No. 32).

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
SIKESTON	12	16	12	26	66
NOTRE DAME	6	14	20	12	52

SIKESTON: Hoifield-20. Hatchett-14. C. Porter-14. Jamison-8. McGee-3. Ruffin-2. Howard-2. Gibson-2. Warfield-1.


 NOTRE DAME: Meystedt-16. Tolbert-13. Seibert-6. Beussink-5. Londewer-4. Heisserer-4. Hayes-2. Lynch-2.