DEXTER -- The last time Sikeston and Dexter met on the basketball court, the Bearcats nearly pulled off one of the biggest shockers of the year back on Feb. 27.
Sikeston escaped its district semifinal with a 56-54 win over Dexter that night, but it also served notice that the Bearcats were a team to be reckoned with heading into this season with the bulk of the roster returning.
But Sikeston returned most of its roster as well and left nothing to chance on Friday night, defeating Dexter 90-59 in front of 2,000 fans at the Bearcat Event Center.
Sikeston senior Fred Thatch scored 29 points with 11 rebounds and six steals to lead the Bulldog effort.
The Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SEMO Conference) forced 21 turnovers and were on fire from beyond the 3-point stripe, sinking 13 of 29 (45 percent).
It was a much different story than February when Sikeston was simply relieved to keep its season alive.
"We have a lot of respect for Dexter," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "We saw them last year in the district tournament and our players remember how difficult they can be to play against."
Dexter always plays a contrasting style to Sikeston's up-tempo game, preferring to pull the ball out and shorten the game and work for clean shots.
It nearly worked to perfection in the game back in February, and it was working early on Friday night with Dexter leading through most of the first quarter.
The Bearcats (0-2, 0-2 SEMO) built a 15-11 lead, but Sikeston's Owen Long and Kevin Jones sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Gabe Jackson basket late in the quarter. Then, trailing by one, Thatch scored on an offensive putback just before the buzzer sounded to give the Bulldogs a 19-18 lead.
That was the beginning of the end for the Bearcats.
As they did in the season opener against Carnahan when they scored 36 points in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs erupted for 30 points in the second quarter against Dexter to blow the game open.
Sikeston began the period with a flurry with the biggest play coming on an outstanding hustle play by Jones when he stole a Dexter pass and saved it from going out of bounds by leaping over the scorer's table. Sikeston's Don Larry retrieved the ball at mid-court and then found Payton Howard spotting up in the corner where he drained a 3-pointer, sending the huge visiting Sikeston crowd into a frenzy.
The shot capped a 14-0 run that stretched from the first quarter to give Sikeston a 31-18 lead with six minutes left in the second.
"We played very well in the first quarter and then we just had some turnovers that sparked their run," Dexter coach Josh Dowdy said. "That's what Sikeston has done for many years. We lacked some composure there in a few spots. We probably had some quick shots tonight."
Dexter briefly slowed Sikeston's momentum when Ben Sindle hit three consecutive free throws to trim the gap to 37-26 with 3:26 left in the half.
But on the ensuing possession Jones lobbed a perfect pass from near half-court to 6-foot-7 junior Trey Jenkins for an alley-oop slam to ignite another Bulldog run -- a 12-3 run to end the half culminating on Dylon Mills' 3-pointer after a drive and dish by Howard with three seconds remaining to take a 49-29 lead into halftime.
"I thought our pressure started wearing them down a little bit," Holifield said. "We created some turnovers and we were able to pick our tempo up in the second quarter."
Sikeston also got valuable production off the bench from Howard, who finished with 17 points, and Larry, who chipped in nine points.
"I thought Payton and Don really played well," Holifield said. "They gave us a lift and played great. They really gave us a spark. It's such an advantage when you can get fresh people in and out of the game."
The third quarter pace slowed to a crawl with both teams committing numerous fouls and stopping the clock -- both teams combined were whistled for 49 fouls in the game.
Sikeston was able to extend its lead to 72-50 heading into the fourth quarter where the Bulldogs were able to reach mercy clock midway through the period.
"All in all I was real pleased with how we played," Dowdy said. "It's crazy to say I'm pleased with how we played and lost by 31, but with that caliber of a basketball team -- the team that we faced tonight, that's a good basketball team. That's a team that's going to be very tough to adjust to. They have the outside shooting, they obviously have the power inside and they have a little bit of length too. We're going to have to get a whole lot better to compete with that three or four months down the road. With that said I think they're going to do that to a lot of teams."
The Bearcats attempted to get physical with Thatch and surround him inside, but it left openings for Sikeston's other players.
Jones finished with 10 points and six assists while Jenkins had 10 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
"Fred's such a great player. Everybody knows about Fred," Holifield said. "He draws so much attention, but we have good players around him. You've got Trey and Kevin who have been playing at the varsity level since they were freshmen. You talk about two juniors that have been in a lot of big games and they've improved tremendously this offseason."
Dexter was led by Sindle's 22 points, including five 3-pointers. Clay Mullins added 20 points for the Bearcats.
Dexter did not help its own cause, going 16 of 31 (52 percent) from the free throw line.
The win marks Sikeston's 20th straight over Dexter dating back to 2004.
Sikeston received the top seed in the SEMO Conference Tournament next week at the Field House. The Bulldogs will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the winner of eighth-seeded New Madrid County Central and ninth-seeded Kennett.
"We just have to keep getting better," Holifield said. "There are a lot of things we have to improve upon and our players know that and understand that."