First-time basketball champions crowned in Missouri Class 4

The Sikeston boys and the St. Dominic (O'Fallon) girls basketball teams topped off unbeaten seasons with Class 4 state championships Saturday at the Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The Bulldogs finished 30-0 on the season after winning the boys title with a 74-55 win over nemesis St. Francis Borgia, which ended Sikeston's postseason run the last two seasons. With the 19-point win Sikeston earned its first state basketball title in school history.

Bulldog senior Will Holifield was ecstatic at the thought of winning a state title with his father Gregg holding the reins. The Holifields became one of the few father-son teams to win a state basketball title in the same year and on the same team.

"I'm just so happy," the younger Holifield told the Southeast Missourian of his team's major accomplishment. "I love my dad. He's been my hero, my best friend my whole life. Just to go out my last year and give him one means everything in the world to me. It just means so much to me."

One of three Bulldogs in double figures, Holifield scored 14 points in the title game. Class 4 tournament MVP Corey Porter poured in a game-high 24 points, while Janeil Hatchett chipped in 13 points. Ben Ruether and Bryce Dolan provided the scoring punch for the Knights by tossing in 16 and 14 points respectively. Drew Kimminau and Nathan Rogers tallied nine points each for the runners-up.

The St. Dominic girls battered Smithville 61-44 in the girls Class 4 title game and finished 30-0 as well. The championship was the first for the Crusaders.

"Honestly, I don't think we ever talked about being undefeated. All year, the focus was one game at a time," Crusader guard Jennifer Rocha told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "But what better way to finish off a career, as an undefeated state champion. Nothing could be better."

St. Dominic was led by four players who finished in double figures, led by Rocha and Leslie Wilmes' 15 points each. Kelly Schnieders added 13 points and Lauren Needham chipped in 11 points. Sydney Catlett paced the runners-up with a game-high 18 points. Kelicia Edwards added six points for Smithville.

INCARNATE WORD GIRLS ARE STILL THE BEST
Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis) won a battle of defending champions Friday when the Red Knights upended 2010 Class 4 champion Webb City 60-56. Incarnate Word then went on to win its second straight big school title with a 59-49 win over Blue Springs. The Wildcats fell to the Red Knights 52-43 in last season's title game.

Nakiah Bell led the Red Knights in the title game by scoring a game-high 16 points. Brittany Carter and Brianna Puni added 12 and 10 points respectively. Bell added six assists to her line.

Leading the charges for Blue Springs were Elizabeth Wendell and Cee Cee Burris with 15 points each. Jamesia Price added nine points.

B.J. YOUNG FINDS GAME, RALLIES STARS
B.J. Young was shut out in the third quarter of a 62-59 come-from-behind Show-Me Showdown semifinal win for McCluer North (Florissant) over Lee's Summit North Friday. Then he went off.

Young scored 19 of the Stars' 23 fourth-quarter points in helping the eventual champions rally from a 46-39 deficit going into the fourth quarter. In all, the Arkansas recruit tallied a game-high 30 points in the win.

"That's typical B.J. Young," McCluer North coach Randy Reed told the Columbia Daily Tribune of Class 5's Show-Me Showdown MVP. "He's been doing that all year. Just when you think he's out of the game, that's when he takes over and scores 10, 12 points. He has ice water in his veins."

McCluer North finished off an unlikely championship run Saturday by out scoring Troy Buchanan 63-53 in the Missouri big school state championship basketball game. Before wrestling the state title away from the Trojans, McCluer North had to avenge regular season defeats to Chaminade (76-58), Hazelwood Central (81-63) and McCluer (65-58).

The Stars did so by knocking off McCluer (68-56), Hazelwood Central (60-44) and Chaminade (57-56) on their way to the school's first state title since 2006-07.

SHOW-ME SHOWDOWN'S TOP SINGLE-GAME SCORERS
Young's 30-point performance was a tournament single-game high. The 6-foot-2 point guard was also credited with three rebounds, three assists and a couple of steals in the semifinal win.

Webb City's Kyndal Clark tallied a tournament-high 30 points for the girls in a 69-64 Class 5 consolation win over St. Joseph's Academy. Clark also pulled in eight rebounds and was credited with a couple of assists and a pair of steals in the contest.

BOYS CONSOLATION RESULTS
CLASS 5 – Lee's Summit North 55, Rock Bridge (Columbia) 43
CLASS 4 – Soldan International Studies (St. Louis) 53, Lafayette (St. Joseph) 45

GIRLS CONSOLATION RESULTS
CLASS 5 – Webb City 69, St. Joseph's Academy (St. Louis) 64
CLASS 4 – St. Francis Borgia (Washington) 53, Farmington 43

MISSOURI BIG SCHOOL BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT SCORING LEADERS
CLASS 5
B.J. Young, McCluer North 51 (25.5)
Derek Deters, Troy Buchanan 36 (18)
Neil Branham, Troy Buchanan 33 (16.5)
Akintoye Okunrinboye, McCluer North 27 (13.5)
David Kravish, Lee's Summit North 27 (13.5)
Patrick Lewis, Lee's Summit North 25 (12.5)
MVP: B.J. Young, McCluer North

CLASS 4
Corey Porter, Sikeston 33 (16.5)
Benjamin Ruether, St. Francis Borgia 31 (15.5)
Ian Toalson, St. Joseph-Lafayette 31 (15.5)
Janeil Hatchett, Sikeston 30 (15)
Randy Holmes, Soldan International Studies 30 (15)
Tim Nelson, St. Joseph-Lafayette 30 (15)
MVP: Corey Porter, Sikeston

MISSOURI BIG SCHOOL GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT SCORING LEADERS
CLASS 5
Kyndal Clark, Webb City 51 (25.5)
Cherisse Burris, Blue Springs 35 (17.5)
Elizabeth Wendell, Blue Springs 33 (16.5)
Taylor Manuel, Incarnate Word Academy 28 (14)
Erin Nelson, St. Joseph's Academy 27 (13.5)
Maddie Stock, St. Joseph's Academy 26 (13)
MVP: Taylor Manuel, Incarnate Word Academy

CLASS 4
Sydney Catlett, Smithville 38 (19.0)
Leslie Wilmes, St. Dominic 31 (15.5)
MacKenzie Haddox, St. Francis Borgia 31 (15.5)
Morgan Ankrom, Farmington 30 (15.0)
Rachel Williams, Farmington 28 (14.0)
Jennifer M. Rocha, St. Dominic 23 (11.5)
Jodi Klott, St. Francis Borgia 23 (11.5)
MVP: Leslie Wilmes, St. Dominic