Ep 58 - From Seeding To Strategy: Sikeston’s Path Through Class 5 District 1

March turns a good team into a focused one. We break down Sikeston’s Class 5 District 1 bracket, from seeding to the on-court habits that will actually decide tight games: rebounding discipline, rotation depth, shot quality, and how our defense has leveled up at the right time. The opener against DeSoto demands urgency, and we call out the trap doors—why even five-win teams are dangerous in a single-elimination setting—and the specific adjustments that keep us in control when nerves surge.

We zero in on matchups that matter. West Plains brings size and strength that can bully the glass; we outline the counters that travel—team rebounding, early tags, and pace with purpose to tire out bigs. Hillsboro and Farmington present different looks we’ve seen before, and Festus owns wins that translate. We give dates, times, and streaming options for MSHSAA TV and Aycorp Sports, plus tips on how to follow along if you can’t make an early weekday tip. Then we zoom out to the northern gauntlet, with Webster Groves, Vianney, and Westminster Christian loading District 2 with shooting and tempo. It’s a future problem, but we sketch how spacing, closeout technique, and ball movement give us answers if we earn the right to play them.

What makes us bullish? Health across the roster, a balanced rotation that keeps shooters in rhythm, and tangible growth on the defensive glass. We talk through who spaces the floor, who punishes switches, and how bench minutes protect legs for fourth quarters. The theme stays simple: win and advance. Bring the same sharpness to DeSoto that you’d bring to a title game, stack stops without fouling, and let our pace tilt possessions in our favor. Listen now, share with a Bulldog who lives for March, and if you’re feeling it, drop your district champion pick and final score. And if you haven’t yet, hit follow, subscribe, and leave a quick review—it helps more fans find the show.

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Transcript

Opening Banter And Schedule Pivot

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Alright, Bulldog Nation. It's time to get in the dog house. This is where Psycho Pride live, where we tell the stories that make this town special. From the legends of the past to the faces shaping our future. Whether it's basketball, community, or just that good old Bulldog grit, we've got you covered. You're listening to the dog house, the voice of Psych. What is up? Bulldog Nation, coming back to you on a beautiful Saturday morning, the last day of February, Micah.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Yes. When your neighbors mowing is yours.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

I could probably mow a little bit of mine. There's some leaves and stuff out there. I probably think that's what he was doing, but getting the leaves up. They all seem to uh tend to gather on the east side of my house in the corner of the house and the fence. But it's better than all over. I guess that's true. It's all in one spot, and I have to just go pick them up. Hey, thanks for listening again this week. We're having a little different episode this week. You are Micah Harris. I'm Matt Tanner. We had some how do I want to say this?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

We had guests lined up in not emergency, but a things happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Yeah, things happen. We anticipate this guest will be on very shortly. We're looking forward to that. But I we actually had planned to do this sort of thing, sort of a playoff preview for the Bulldogs. And so we just kind of as we say in in in banking and but in all industries, you gotta learn to pivot, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

And so you have to be we have to be flexible and adaptable is one of the terms we use at first state community bank for one of our core values we're adaptable. So we are adapting today. We planned on doing this, but this is episode 58, season two, episode 16, and we're calling this our playoff preview. We are the the seedings for a class five district one are out. And let's get to let's pay some bills first, Micah, and then we'll just jump right into this.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

That's what I was thinking.

Sponsor Shoutouts And Community Updates

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Yeah. Again, we can't tell you how proud we are to be partners with Mercy Phoenix, a healthcare staffing solution company. And there's big news for them, and I will let them announce that. Uh but if you guys know Jody or Tucker or anybody in his family, reach out to them. They've had some big news as far as business-wise, and Jody's gonna be a grandpa again, too. That's not even the big news.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

I was thinking I was that's where I was thinking, but I wasn't.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Yeah, no, a little bit different, but that's part of it. His his he and his wife Karen, their youngest son Tucker.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

And they've totally relocated down there now.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Maybe not. If I can say this, yeah. They have signed a contract on a house in Sykeston. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I shouldn't maybe should have brought it.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

No, that's okay. I I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

It was on Facebook. I seen it.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

Oh, okay. Well then there we go. If if it's out there, then it's public. Yeah. And they've they've had a contract on their home in Cape to sell, and they have a contract to buy a home in Sykston. So, yes, they are very excited. I know Jody and Karen are very excited to have Tucker and his wife Chandler down here with a new baby coming. I think it's later the summer. And so Jody had some other exciting news, and so I I won't I won't steal his thunder, but we are we are tickled and absolutely honored to have them uh as a partner with us. And the same holds true for greengrass guys again, both both families, both individuals, greengrass guys, D. Bizzle, David Bizzle, but also with Jody and Tucker and Karen and the whole Cheney family. Just stalwarts of our community, outstanding people, first and foremost, and we're proud that they see the vision again that that we have and what we're doing here, and we can't be prouder of this. And and and that goes into a little bit further. Thank you all for listening. Thank you very much for liking our stuff on Facebook. I I haven't made this post yet, but Mike and I've talked about it and I've shared it with Jody. I haven't had a chance to share it with D. Maybe I did share it with D, I can't tell. But the f the post that we put out about this year's team being 78 and 5. Yeah, the whole program.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

Almost 25,000 views. Man. That's we're up over 60,000 views for the month.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

I I I somebody Marky had told me that I I didn't realize that it had kind of gotten that big of a it was it's big.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

It's very big. Thank you, thank you, thank you for liking, sharing, commenting. That's how those things, and it's not viral. We're not making money from it. I mean, I wish I knew how to do that. I don't know. And not that 25,000 is going to go viral. That's not viral. But that's a lot to us. It is.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I mean, when a normal post Well, and not only that, I mean, like, in that post, I mean, like, our followers on our on our Facebook page went from like 89 or 880 or 899 to 930 over 930. I haven't looked 933. Yes, in just like a matter of a few days. So like you sharing those things and and doing that gets out and then continue to do this, you know. I mean, like, I mean, that's that's that's the main goal is that we can continue to do what we do. Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 5:22

It's this this Micah and I do this because we we we love to do this and we want to do it. We I I I assure you, I mean, we we have some we have some sponsors, but you know, it it I'm still working. You know, Micah's still working.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

That's it's I'm working like two jobs, probably. I've been I've been painting on a rental house this morning.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Yeah, Micah's like, we gotta hurry up, I gotta paint.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

And so I feel like I'm gonna be. Actually, actually, I want to give a shout out to her. She's uh she's over there painting right now. So I mean, she may actually have that done, but I've got some other stuff I gotta do too.

Audience Growth And Social Support

SPEAKER_03 5:57

Right. Well, shout out to her, shout out to Becky. Thanks for keeping keeping the wheels turning, right? Yeah. Uh also obviously shout out to Luke. Luke designs all of our the things you see on the TV. If you watch on YouTube or any of our clips and reels that we post out there, you can see the the TV that's behind us or kind of in between us, and he does all that for us. Shout out to Aaron. Today, Aaron is this is her, Micah. I just want to give her a shout out. Of course, I give her a shout out every week. This is her 20-seventh year of accompanying high school students in district and state contest. In in in band. Typically it's band. She might be choir. Maybe choir, but I think it's mostly band. So they're playing an instrument, she plays the piano. Twenty-seven years. She said she's done this since she was been in high school.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

That's cool. That's awesome. Yeah. That's that's dedication.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Talking about commitment, that's I'm I I'm always I'm always looking at commitment. That's commitment.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

She loves and I'm sure the school appreciates it.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

They do. Miss Kim Whitehead, Mr. Darren Stillman. You know, they know that they can contact her. And one of her mentors, one of her teachers, one of her dear friends, one of our dear friends, Miss Judy Henry. She helped Miss Henry. Miss Henry was her teacher in high school, but now Miss Henry, she's she's a retired teacher, but she's still company some. And there are sometimes last year, Miss Henry could, but she helps Notre Dame. Well, she called Aaron. Guess what Aaron did? She did she play for the street. She stepped in and played for Notre Dame. Yeah. That's just that's the type of person my wife is. She knows she's helping kids, and that's the caring, committed person she is.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

And you know what? I I I'm I admire her for sure that's not very public.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Yeah, no, it's not. It's not like a basketball team like we're talking about. It's not, but it it's very important. It was important to her.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

It's important to those kids because that's what they love and that's what keeps them interested. That's correct. That's what extracurricular activities in school is about, is keeping 'cause I mean, I'll be honest with you, going to school for seven, eight hours a day, kind of boring. It can be. I mean, there's gotta be other reasons to be there.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Sure, sure. So I mean But that's their passion, right? Just like we talk about basketball a lot and sports in general, and that's our passion. But w my son, he lo he likes basketball, he likes football, he li but that's not his passion, right? His passion is music. Just like these kids are, and sh that's her passion, so it it meets together, and she's able to help those kids. And hey, it I I'm thrilled that she does this. Does it take time from her? Yes. But does this take time at least a couple hours a week? Right, right. And so I I love that she does that and has done it for so long and and done it without notoriety, and she's not asking for me to make a big Facebook post, or she's not asking for anybody to put it in the paper, but I think it's worthy. Absolutely. I I do too. And so today this morning she's in Jackson. I mean, she had she got up, she left here at 7 30 on a Saturday, you know, when she'd normally sleep in or or or whatever, or just be doing whatever she wanted to do. But she she wants to be there, she wants to help those kids. Right. She loves to play the piano.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Now she goes beyond that too.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

If they'll go to state with them, she'll go to Columbia. Mm-hmm. Yeah. She will. I think that's I think that's April. Don't hold me to that. I think it is in April. At some time in April.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Well, I I know that like I had some cousins that were in band and stuff, and they would had to be April because they would have to hurried back to get the prong. Right. Right. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

I mean, if I remember correctly.

Personal Shoutouts And Local Pride

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Yeah. And so, you know, our son, he went to state in in band and uh did uh I think it was a trio or whatever, but it's it's a passion for them, and and I I'm very I'm very glad she does that. And shout out to her for continuing to do that. A little more shout-outs. Uh shout out to Justin, our general counsel. Shout out to him. Thanks for the taking this lucrative position on. We know how how life-changing the money is for that position. Shout out to Tucker Cheney, the aforementioned Tucker Cheney, who's helped me so much with these reels and and with the getting the video on YouTube, and it's still not perfect, and I'm learning stuff every day, and I'm learning how to do a few things. So if you like it, please watch it, please comment on it, share it, subscribe to our YouTube page, like and you know, follow all of our pages on social media, rate them, all those things. Rate our show on Apple, Spotify, and uh that'll help us continue to grow it. Uh again, shout out to Deege and Derek James, Brian James for all the stats, the knowledge, the history of all things bulldogs and all things southeast Missouri hoops and sports in general. And finally, shout out not and certainly last but not least, uh shout out Tyler Anderson, Twisted Arrow Woodworking for our cool freaking sign on the wall that we got hanging up. If that's something you're interested in, give type give TA as we call him, give him a shout out and see what he can hook get you hooked up with.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

So I guess we kind of covered green grass guys a little bit. Yeah. I guess they're probably booking for like getting ready to get into spring.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

I mean, like oh yeah, this is high time for them. I they haven't been here yet. I don't I mean they spray in the fall, and obviously when it's snow on the ground, stuff like that, but they'll be here pretty quick, hitting it with some pre-emerge and probably some other other chemicals and stuff to keep the weeds out of my grass. Yeah, they'll be here soon. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

So if you're looking at for something like that, reach out to them.

SPEAKER_03 11:36

It is time to to shift your thinking. Yep, I've got some trimming I got to do outside a little bit to to kind of get prepared for the next growing season. But yeah, it's it's time to start shifting that thought process there for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

It is. I'm I was sitting there thinking, I was like, looking at rental property this morning, I was like, oh, I'm gonna have to mow.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

It's time, it's about that time. I've got some onions growing up in my yard. Oh, I do too. I got some in the backyard where I don't have it fertilized and all that stuff, but that that may have to change soon. Again, please like, share, follow on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Rate us on Spotify, put comments and Apple Podcasts or wherever you get our podcast, please like, share, follow, give us a shout out, comment, all those things, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

If you reach out to us on Facebook, like people you want to come and be on here.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Yeah, yep. Send us if you got some comments and you're like, hey, have you thought about so-and-so? We're absolutely uh we've we've got lists and we've got stuff planned, and that's okay. Reach out to us. We'd we'd love to love to hear your ideas. Uh, you can always catch our podcast, Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, and a whole host of others. Again, there's an embedded player on our website, the doghouse.buzzsprout.com. You can send us an email at doghouse.sikston at gmail.com. Reach out to Micah and me on our personal pages or send us a DM message on any of our platforms. We certainly I monitor them all the time. We will get back to you. And thanks for thanks for doing those things. Thanks for listening. Thanks for hanging out with us. Again, Mike, it's interesting. Don't want to say yet nothing's done, but you know, I say every week, hey, if you're interested in partnering with us, give us a shout. I forgot to tell you, somebody asked me the other day, said, Hey, we're interested. Okay. So we're gonna talk about that a little bit. So we may have another partner. We're very excited about that. Nothing's done yet, but we'll see how that goes. And uh, if you're interested, give us a shout. We've always got our swag available, our t-shirts right now, long and short sleeve t-shirts, obviously in red and black. And maybe we'll come up with maybe we'll come up with some pink or something. Maybe some ladies like different colors. We'll see. Maybe I don't know. I'm I'm gonna have to have somebody a whole lot better at marketing uh merchandise than me.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah, I don't I don't know that that's thinking like I got a little one of those little buckets this week, like from the shelter.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

It's that's is that what John was talking about? Those buckets, yeah, yeah. He it has he has something for the shelter workshop. And have our logo on there? Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. I don't know how I can maybe uh I have some ideas.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

I'll I'll I'll maybe Mr.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Henson, Mr. Brian Henson. He's he's my go-to guy. I know he I know he can hook us up. I'm sure it's just a screen print on it. Yeah, probably a sticker or something you put on there. Yeah, absolutely. And again, shout out to all our folks listening. Thank you very much for uh continuing to listen every week. And now without further ado, Micah, what do you say? You want to get into our preview?

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Oh, I'm ready. I'm ready.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

You know, this is my one of my favorite times of the year. I love the anticipation. A couple different anticipations. Summer, it's hot, and you know, you start toward the end of August, you're like, man, okay, it's time to cool down. It's time to, you know, I mean, you it's hot for a long time, you're like, man, it's ready for football.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

And you start there's a couple things that we're always ready for, like this time of year. I mean, like, I feel like I feel like March Madness pulls us pulls us into spring. You know what I mean? I know, I know halfway through the month it's spring, but and also like next weekend, I think, yeah, next weekend I think we spring for it. Oh, is it next weekend? I think so.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

You may be right. I know it seems earlier than it used to be. I think that I think you're probably right.

Lawn Talk And Spring Prep

SPEAKER_01 15:21

A little bit extra daylight in the evening. Yep, it's already light till about six o'clock now, so it now would be seven. I think after that it'll be close to seven, uh-huh. Like to to to do so. And of course that I mean, like, but I think March Madness just pulls us all the way. And and I consider this March Madness. I really I mean, I uh this high school basketball is as much March Madness as NTAA. I mean, like and I and I I feel like this is what what gives me hope at the end of the end of the long winter. End of the cold winter. I don't I don't like the cold. I don't I don't I don't particularly care for it being a hundred degrees outside, but I would rather it be a hundred degrees outside. I mean, I I don't my body does not like cold. I understand.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

I understand. I I I I've learned to like the cold just because I like what it brings with with football. I I I I anticipate the beginning of the of the football season. Like, okay, it's gonna start getting cool again. Fall is my favorite time of the year. It just is because it's I like spring because I like the weather. I mean, I like the cooler temperatures, I don't like the severe weather, and I don't like all the wind. That's why I love fall. I agree with you. I love fall.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

But I mean, like, even talking about that, I mean, we got spring football going on right now. That's right. I think Mizzou kicked it off like a couple days ago.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

So yeah. Listen, this is this this time of the year again. Uh the anti- I love it, the anticipation of the football season starting, you know, it's all just a week away. And or you know, the NFL in August starts their uh preseason games, you're like, yes, yes, it's football season. Or even in July, I think they start I think the last week of July.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

They start their mini or their camp. Training camp. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Right in July, and I'm like, yes, it's time.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

You know, well, I mean, like, talking about that, I mean, Cardinals are reported, spring training. Oh, yeah, we got baseball. We've got baseball going on for a week. Like games on the radio. Oh, yeah. TV.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

Oh yeah, it's going on. But then the other part that I the other big anticipation I have of cut few is the anticipation of the start of basketball season.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

I feel like something. I feel like something special about this the spring though. Like with the Bulldogs. I really I really do. I really do.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

I do too. I feel like we got as good a shot as anybody to make a lot of noise in this in the class five. We're I think we're playing, we're peeking at the right time.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I don't want to I'll go ahead and say it.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

I'm gonna knock on wood, but we're healthy. Yeah, that's right. I mean and that's a that's a big key, it really is.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

I mean, like I'm being honest with you, like think about was it 18? Is it when Peyton was hurt? Nineteen.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Oh no, uh Yeah, no, no, no, 19. That was the twin senior year. Yeah, yeah. He was hurt.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

I mean, and they were beat up a lot.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

Clark was dealing with an injury. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You're that's tough.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

We were thin, but I think this year we still were healthy, and I think that part of it is the rotation that we've kind of established with with our players. I mean, and and just being able to not make them overdo themselves when they need rest to get out, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

I mean, well, and and I I'm not being critical, it just is what it is. I mean, look at Cape Central. Look when they lost Tyshandre Edwards.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Congratulations on him.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

He signed with he did sign, congratulations down.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Mobile JUCO down in Mobile. Bishop something or something like that. I saw it. I saw it too.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

But congratulations to him. I don't know the young man, but I'm I'm always for a kid continuing on to the next level and getting an education.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Always especially with you know, I mean, I'm sure that's hard on him not being able to play this year.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

I guarantee it. It's probably about to kill him. I mean, I physically, it's it's really bothers him, I know, because he's a competitor.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Well, and even even at that, I mean, like you have an injury like that, you kind of question will I ever get back? Oh, I'm sure.

How To Follow, Rate, And Reach Us

SPEAKER_03 19:02

I'm sure that went through his brain. Congratulations. Absolutely. So, but yeah, no, the healthy thing is is is huge. That's absolutely correct. Coming into this, we're fully healthy. So the the seeds came out and basically went as we expected, and we'll let's let's go over the seeds, Micah, of class five district one. So without much fanfare, and you know, the Bulldogs were the one seed. Festus got the two seed, and Festus is 19 and 7. They have they they lost to Jackson by 20. I'm just looking at some common opponents. They lost to Charleston by 20. Wait, is that right? Yeah, they lost to Charleston by 20. 70, 79, 59. And that was early. Now they probably literally were just, and I think they have a good football team, so they were just coming off football. So again, some of this early stuff you kind of have to put into, you know, kind of remember what's going on there.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

I mean, they talked about it last week. I mean, we're better teams than we like Jackson. Yes. Both coaches were like, we're better than we were when we played the first time.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

They beat Farmington. They beat Hillsborough, who is another district opponent. They beat Farmington again, they beat Popper Bluff by 20.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Which is who they play. Popper Bluffs just played for the ball.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

Yes, they do. They sure do. And then the three seed is Farmington, who we've we've beaten already this year. We beat them. By 30, 85, 55. But they have beaten let's see. They beat Scott City. They beat Scott City early 66, 58. They beat Cape. They beat Cape Central. So you know, Farmington, again, they lost to Jackson by 10. So, you know, let's not let's not just not a cakewalker. No, I mean, you know, I know we're the one seed and we're like, and the favorite, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

But I mean, today, I mean, like, there's a couple games going on like Woodland, Scott, Scott City, and uh Plexico Charleston. A lot of people believe that they could go either way.

SPEAKER_03 21:25

I totally agree. I totally agree with you. The fourth seed is Hillsborough. They are 13-12. They've had, you know, they're kind of up and down. Now they did beat Farmington and beat him in overtime seventy four sixty eight. They beat Cape Central. Now, again, uh not knocking Cape Central, but they're they're they're hurt, they're injured and all those things.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

So Well, they're down really two gig determiners. Correct. Correct. Like Marco and then Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

Well that's a that's not I mean I know he's been here two years. Right. Here's the here here I think is somebody that may make some noise and could could give us a matchup problem, and that's five seed West Plains.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Now they've Which if we win it'd be the second round?

New Partners And Merch Ideas

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Yes. Yes. They're 11 and 13, but don't let that record fool you. They played a lot of Springfield teams. Yes. They beat Popper Bluff. They beat them 63-45. They beat Thayer, who's a really good team. Matter of fact, speaking of that, Thayer is playing for their 25th district championship. They're playing in the 25th straight district championship. Now they're going for their 13th in a row. But they have they're played, I thought Siceon's run was impressive there back several years ago. We played in seven or eight in a row, maybe ten. They've played in 25 straight district championship games. And if they win today, this will be their 13th in a row. That's pretty darn impressive.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

That is impressive.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

They play Logan Rogersville, who is got the kid going to Indiana. Now they they lost. They beat Hillcrest. That's where, if you remember DGB went to high school, and I think they at Springfield. So they beat Carl Junction. So I don't and just seeing some a few pieces of clip on them as far as game film.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Aren't they big?

SPEAKER_03 24:17

They're big, strong. Yep. One thing, and I feel sorry for them. I I I truly do. They've got to go from West Plains to Cape. Man. That's three hours, Micah. How are they gonna? I mean, that's that's not fair to them to be in this district. It's not. But but they're an hour and a half away from Springfield, too. Or I mean, you know, when you get to West Plains, you still got another hour and a half, two hours of spring. Springfield.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

And there's just not a lot of big schools out there.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

There's not any, they're the only class five school in that area.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

So they you know they're gonna travel whichever way they go.

SPEAKER_03 24:53

Right. And nobody's gonna choose to have their district at West Plains.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

I mean No, I don't want to go over there. I mean, we went over there I mean we've been there before.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

Yeah, yeah. But so anyway, uh they could be a matchup problem for us just because they're big and strong and and they rebound well, and that's you know, some of the things that we'll have to deal with. Sixth seed, Cape Central. They are and they play Farmington in the first round. They're nine and sixteen. And we won't spend everybody knows about Cape Central, don't want to spend a lot of time with them. We've already kind of talked about them. Talked about them. Popper Bluff is a seven seed, they play Festus, and DeSoto is the eight seed, and we played them earlier this year in the DeSoto tournament. Yeah. And we beat them the Fountain City Classic. That's right. Thank you. It was our first game of the year, and we beat them 98-41. So expect them to be better. I do. I listen, and you can say, oh, they're gonna beat DeSoto and they'll beat West Plains and they'll beat Festus or Farmington or whoever they play. I I I have that feeling, I agree with you, but at this time of the year, Micah, what happens if you lose?

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Go home.

Playoff Anticipation And Seasonal Sports Vibes

SPEAKER_03 26:10

Go home. It doesn't matter. You don't get to say, let me get another shot. Right. I mean, you may get a shot next year, but you're not gonna get a shot with this same squad and their same squad. So it's time to do not overlook anybody. I don't care. DeSoto, what I tell you. They're five and twenty one. I don't care. They are they've won five games. They've beat five people. So they are capable of knowing how to win. Do not overlook them. And do not overlook anybody going forward.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

That's I mean, I don't know how well you you gotta you gotta prepare like it's your last game, because it is.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I think it's win in advance. Yeah, just win and move on.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

But you gotta do it one game at a time.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Right. Can't worry about who we play. I mean, until we know who we're gonna play. You can't, you know, that's the tough part and the the fun part, so to speak, about this type of year, this type of uh this time of the year is that okay, we can prepare for DeSoto, right? We know we're gonna play them, but we can't prepare for Hillsborough or or West Plains. No, because we don't know who we're gonna play. Right. Like they're two different teams. Right. Coach will prepare them. Now district setup, let's talk about that for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Three o'clock on three thirty on a Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Yeah, that's uh let's say we don't need your fans. Let's like why couldn't they split that in two nights?

SPEAKER_03 27:46

According to my sources, they said that they were considering almost doing like a home seed, higher, higher seed host the first round. Because yeah, and then they backed away from that. So yeah, our first game's at 3 30, March 3rd, that's on Tuesday. Get it, get there if you can. If you can't, I understand. That would be better for like a West Plains. I mean, like if you West Plains plays at five o'clock. I mean, they're literally gonna have to leave at noon.

unknown 28:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Because they'll probably stop and eat. I mean, like they're gonna be driving. Um in we drove over there to that game at West Plains. It's two hours and fifteen minutes in a vehicle. I'm telling you, it's all the two and a half hours West Plains from Sykston to their gym. And I'm and it's at least 30 minutes from here. I it's it's at least three hours on a bus. Now, maybe they'll have a charter bus, but whatever. It's still three hours. I very well doubt it. I doubt it. I do too, but I don't know their situation. They could, but that's just a long dang day. And so they say on a school day. Yeah. Yeah, they still got it. It's gotta be two school days. Yes. Yeah, they win, they'll be right back there Thursday. And so, you know, you'll have a day in between. Coach Hollyfield will prepare his team for as best he can. You know, at this time of the year, you just about dancing with the grill you brought. I mean, there's not a whole lot of time for a philosophy shift. If you're uh you know mainly a zone team like we are, we're not gonna suddenly become a dang good man team in in a day or two. I mean, that's a whole year's worth or whole season's worth of process.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Well, you watch Charleston. I mean, I mean, like that's it takes them almost that's why they're dialed in at this time of year. Yeah. I mean, because they've been working at it.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

That's a really good win by them over Bernie. I won't say it surprised me. I'm not shocked, but I was expecting Bernie to win. How about that?

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:48

I Charleston never surprises me in in the playoffs. That's just who they are. They just lost. They got athletes and yeah. I mean they had a great game. They had a great game. And it was close for three quarters.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

I think so. They had a halftime of Bernie elite.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Yep. I think they even they had lead most of the third quarter. I was just gonna say, I can't remember the actual score of the year.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Well, I was just going back and watching the the clips from Acorp and I was watching and I was like, oh.

Why This Team Feels Ready

SPEAKER_03 30:13

Yep, yep. So I I think the I think that game with assuming we win and we play Hillsborough, West Plains, that game would be Thursday at 5 30. Now these games will be on Misha TV. I know Acorp said if we get to the finals, they'll do the district finals. Otherwise, you have to go to Misha TV. It's an app on your phone. Or you if you have a smart, if you have a smart TV, you can download the Misha app on your TV and watch it on there. And it'd basically be like that Huddle feed, which when I say huddle feed, if you're not aware or not sure what that is, that's basically that camera that's in most schools now that just follows movement. Yeah. And then they'll have the they'll have the clock in the screen. They usually do have the scoreboard. In the scoreboard. I'm sorry, yeah, the clock on the scoreboard, a picture of it in the corner. And and it follows the game. There's no announcers. It's better than not being able to watch it.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

And you just there's just no way to line it up with the radio.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

There's just Oh, have you tried?

SPEAKER_01 31:56

There's just no way.

SPEAKER_03 31:58

Okay. Okay. That's I I trust you on that. You you know, if you want to listen to the radio at the same time, you're probably it's probably going to be off as far as nine times out of ten, you're probably going to get know what's going to happen before you see it. Oh, the radio is early? Okay. Okay. Yeah. And you can't slow the radio down. Maybe if you streamed it off your phone, maybe you could pause it or something. I don't know. My problem.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

My problem is I I use my phone to do both. So you can't do that. So But I will say I will say that a lot of times they do have a they do have a mic, and you could hear the announcer on the the PS.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

Calling the fouls and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah, you can kind of pick that stuff up. But you you you you should be able to watch both now. You're probably gonna have to pay. Probably have to pay 10 bucks to watch. Look for more for that to come out. I would say look for our Syson Athletic Facebook page or X page to probably have a link or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Which I won't be able to watch or listen. I mean I'll be in You'll be working. I'll be I'll be with Group.

SPEAKER_03 33:08

Okay. Are you gonna try to go Thursday? 5 30, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Try.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

Yeah. And then if the Bulldogs win, then the finals would be next Saturday at one o'clock. And so we may we may have to postpone till like Sunday for this episode next week. We'll probably have our guest on uh during the week, I anticipate. And then we will have that ready to go, film, do our part, talk about the Bulldogs. Again. We're hoping we get there.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

If we make it past there, I mean kind of.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

Let's we'll talk a little bit about that now. Again, first round game for the Bulldogs is Tuesday, March 3rd at 3 30. If we win, we play Thursday, March 5th at 5 30. And if we win that one, we would play for the district title March 7th at 1 o'clock, and that will be on Acorp Sports. However, you will still have to pay to watch it.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Yeah, that's a Misha thing.

SPEAKER_03 34:07

Yeah, yeah. That is that's right. That's absolutely right. Micah's correct. That's Misha. Has nothing to do with Acorp, has nothing to do with I do wish they would come out with some kind of like postseason. We talked about that, yeah. Some sort of pay$30.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

I think at one time they did do that. I don't know what the deal was.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

I don't recall.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Because I remember well, I think maybe maybe the year I was in the hospital, I think it was like a flat.

District Seeds And Scouting Report

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Okay. Yeah. I I I wish they would. I I I and I I mean I would pay a pretty decent price to do that.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

All the way through all the way through the state championship. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 34:43

And then you could watch the other games. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Let's talk about. Let's we don't want to we don't want to get too far out ahead of us.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Well, we do want to kind of look at the bracket like coming up because district class five, district two has two juggernauts in it. Four? Three. Three, three. I mean, I know.

SPEAKER_03 35:04

They have obviously Webster Groves. We know a lot about Webster Groves. That's who beat us by one point here in the quarterfinals last year. And this year, the quarterfinals will be played in Park Hills, whether it's us or whoever. It's mission. And I think we've talked about this before. It has changed from it's it's neutral sites. It's no longer home and home.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

But we're not using any kind of of like post post uh high school.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

No colleges essentially, or no junior colleges or whatever sites. Or civic centers or anything. Right. I don't know why they I'm sure there's a rhyme or reason to it. I I assume cost. It's just my thought, but I I don't know that. But it would be a Park Hills, which is in our park Park Hills Central, which is in Park Hills, Missouri, which is just north of Farmington. I mean, five miles. So it's the Farmington area. So interestingly, in the lat most recent poll, Webster Groves is number one. Viani, who is in their district, is number two, and Viani is the two seed in District 2. Number three is M I C D S. I'm not sure what uh district they're in, probably three or four. And then Sykston is four. Number five, Westminster Christian. Guess who's the number three seed in District Two? Westminster Christian.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

That's a tough district.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

So you want to talk about a juggernaut, a loaded district coming out of there. Webster Groves, they play the same. They're playing the same schedule. They must be playing different locations. Like Viani and Pacific. Oh yeah, they're doing like a home and home deal. Viani's playing at home against Pacific. Webster Groves, I bet they're playing at home too. No, they're playing at Rockwood Summit. That's really weird. Oh, I bet I bet Westminster plays at Viani as well. Yep. Okay, they've got two sites. That's what they were talking about doing here. Because they got to get four games. That's why they that's why we're starting so early. Because they got to get four games in that day. So they just went to two different sites. They're playing at 5.30 and 7 at Rockwood Summit, and they're playing at 4.30 and 6 at Viani. So Webster Groves plays Melville. Viani plays number 7 Seed Pacific. And Westminster Christian plays number 6 Windsor Imperial. So I would look for a Viani Westminster Christian semifinal and probably a Webster Groves. I don't know anything about Rockwood Summit or Lutheran South, but I would look for a Webster Groves.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Viani.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Probably. Westminster Christian, I keep hearing a lot, keep kind of keep hearing that name pop up. So it's funny. We were at the Simo game Thursday night, which Simo got beat, guys. Man, it was that was tough to watch. It was tough to be there and watch it. It was tough.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

I'll be honest. I think I'm I'm hoping every time I watch them, I I jinx them, I think. They lost because you watched. I guess.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

They didn't rebound well and they didn't make any. They missed a just a bushel basket full of layups at the at the rim.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

But Tennessee State, though, had like 36 free throws.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Yes, that was the worst part. These those officials, and I say I don't get on officials. I I I've calmed down a lot. I give a lot of respect for those guys. Those guys had no business calling that game. They were terrible. They just were bad. Yeah, well, I mean, like the one time they allowed a different guy shoot a free throw. They just just dumb like like how do you not know that?

SPEAKER_01 38:50

And then like one time on the inbound, like they had no idea whose ball it was. Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:55

I mean, like they didn't never point, never, I mean, like it was No, he never made the when a ball went out of bounds, he never made a call, and then they went and reviewed it. And I'm like, well, you didn't even make a call yet. How can you review it? Just they they were I I don't know. Maybe they were just having a bad night, but man, they were they were not very good. But if so anyway, where I was going, these two guys sitting behind us, and a guy that you Paradoski, Perdoski, he's not gonna be. I I looked him up actually. He played at SEMO from 04 to 08, played under Gary Garner. He went to Viani and he played, and then he said he coached there for a little bit. I don't I'm not sure what he's doing now.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

He's not I think I kind of remember his name.

Matchup Watch: West Plains Size

SPEAKER_03 39:39

Yeah, six one or two guard. Anyway, he was sitting behind us and we got talking with him. Of course, Aaron can talk to anybody, and she struck up a conversation, started talking to him, really nice guys, and actually his friends from Borgia, and I'm like, holy cow, could you pick two worst schools you're from? And so we just get, you know, giving him a hard time. And he said that Viani, he said they he said they literally fast break and shoot threes. That's what he called it. Literally, he said, and now he's been a little facetious and maybe a little hyperbole, but he said they shoot 73s a game. And they can shoot it. They can shoot it. So if they're hot, they're hot. That's what I mean. If if they're hot, you can give anybody trouble. So you know that's a dang good district. I I I'd too look for Webster Grove to come out of there, but don't be surprised if you see a Viani or a Westminster Christian come out of that.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Well, you said MICDS is is district three.

SPEAKER_03 40:40

Okay. They're the one seen in district three. Okay. There you go. So there's a lot of good teams in this quarter of the state. It wouldn't surprise me to see a state title come from this quarter, which would, when I say quarter, it's the four districts right around here one, two, three, and four. Especially since the top five teams are from these quarters, from this quarter of the state. Hopefully, it comes from a little further south than this quarter in old district one.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Down here in southeast Missouri, hopefully. Right. Which is possible.

SPEAKER_03 41:11

Agreed. Agreed. You know, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Again, we're not overlooking anybody. I know coaches not. I I matter of fact, I know that for a fact, they are not overlooking anybody. I know the kids are locked in. If Sykeson is fortunate enough to get to that quarterfinal game, A Corp Sports will have that as well. Again, you'll have to pay to watch it. I think ten bucks, I think. But if you're not going, you'd pay pay more than that to get in, or you'd pay seven or eight dollars to get in. So I understand what they're doing, but it's not, you know, if if you were going, it cost you more of that gas and then the ticket to get in. So 10 bucks is gonna be pretty cheap. You can sit right in your chair and watch it and have you know the announcers for it. So I'm hopeful that the dogs are able to make a deep run. I would love to see them go to Columbia and make some noise up there. You just don't ever know when you get there. They're gonna have listen, they're gonna have their hands full. I know on paper it looks like it's uh it's a cheap and easy, not cheap. That's the wrong word. Looks like it's just gonna be an easy, easy road to win.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

And are you talking about district?

SPEAKER_01 42:26

District.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

I'm sorry, yes. I'm sorry, yes, yes. Let me clarify. Just district.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

The quarterfinal game is gonna be tough no matter who gets in that.

SPEAKER_03 42:35

And you know, you're you're in the playoffs, you're in the top, you're in the elite eight. It should be. You're you should expect a tough team. That's right. That's right. The year that we you know we won state in 2011, we hammered Imagine Prep. It was 8444 or something like that. Or 8450. I think that's what it was. Just beat the brakes off of them. Now, I'd love to see that happen again. I don't wish any ill on anybody by any chance. We you know, you want to beat the teams that you know, you want to beat a team that's best, right? You want to be at your best and their best, and you line up and we beat them.

SPEAKER_01 43:09

I I do what I had uh talking about like good teams that like I watched Webster Groves and Jackson. I did too. And and I mean Scotty Axe.

SPEAKER_03 43:20

He's tough. He's different. I mean, Dennis Gates was there. Was he? Yes, he was at the game. And he had 45. I mean, he's legit. Yeah, I mean, he's just different. And so, you know, they're gonna have their hands full. Again, let's let's let's worry about DeSoto. You just take care of the game in front of you. That's all you can do right now. We can't worry about West what Wester Groves is doing. We can't worry about what Viani, we can't worry about what West Plains and Hillsboro are gonna do.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

No, we can't.

SPEAKER_03 43:49

All we gotta do right now, and and they're gonna, and I know they're practicing tomorrow on Sunday and and and Monday to get ready for Tuesday is focus on DeSoto. That's absolutely all you can do right now. What do we talk about? Control the controllables, right? Right. Right. That's all you can control. They're removing the doubt right now. That's right. That's exactly what it's exactly what they're doing. Work and get enough reps in that we're removing the doubt that we're ready to play. We will be ready. Coach Hollofield team will be ready to play. That you can count on. Will we make shots? Will we rebound well? Some of those things are up in the air, but this this team will be prepared for any game that we play. I assure you. And you know, some keys that we talked about. Got to continue to rebound. We've been rebounding better in recent past. I thought early against Jackson we didn't rebound well. I agree. But then I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

I think I might have said something.

SPEAKER_03 44:47

You did. You were like, man, they're killing us on the boards. But I feel like that we we had a big shift. And I thought Jaharis, Marquel, Ben James was a huge rebounder that game.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

Which Jaharis was in foul trouble a lot.

SPEAKER_03 45:01

He did get in foul trouble. Found out he did. J Ray came in and got huge rebounds, some blocks that I thought really changed the momentum of of that game. It was a it was a huge game for us.

SPEAKER_01 45:12

I feel like defensively down lower we we've gotten a lot better.

SPEAKER_03 45:15

We have. We have. You're correct. I also feel that I mean we've continued to shoot the ball well, and that's a that's a big strength for us. Big strength.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

And and you know, I mean, like yeah, I mean, I think somebody in the thing talked about Kobe's height, you know, not being a bit tall enough to shoot or whatever. But my thing is we can ball space him because we got other people that can shoot too. I mean, and that that's the importance of, you know, like Shelby's our I mean Kobe is probably our purest shooter. I mean, like maybe Mark Well. I mean, like But I mean like But I mean we got we got some shooters.

SPEAKER_03 45:56

Oh listen, when you when you have uh Kobe, Ben, Sean, or Will, or Drake, or uh Marquell. Or Quay? Yeah, Quay? Yeah. You have those guys out there who do you guard?

SPEAKER_01 46:11

I mean, like we could we We could put up 70 with VI. Oh I mean like I'm just I'm just 70 shots or 73s.

Early Weekday Tip Times And Travel

SPEAKER_03 46:21

They said 73s. Now he was being a little facetious. That's that's crazy. That's a lot. I mean I I I haven't I haven't seen any of their stats or anything like that, but I'd love to go back and see them. I uh it sounds like they shoot 30 a game, which is a lot. You know, we probably make 30 as a team? No, no, no. Well, I don't know. I don't know. I'm I I know they can shoot, I guarantee it. That that same coach is still there, that Walsh guy. Yeah, that Kevin Walsh. I know he's still there. So I'm gonna go. Like when we played them. They're well coached, man. And and that wash, that Luke Walsh, his son, is at SIU at Carbondale. So listen, they've got some ballers. I think they got another seven-footer. Hey, you know what I'm looking forward to?

SPEAKER_01 47:01

Watching some basketball.

SPEAKER_03 47:02

Oh man, me too. Me too. Me too. I am well, Micah, we have worn this subject out. Hopefully gives you a little insight into what to what's going on, what to expect from the Bulldogs. I expect pace, up tempo. Look for the Bulldogs to really guard well. This is kind of the time of the year that Coach Olafield really hones in on defense. Not that he does at other times of the year, but he's had a lot of time with them. They've been able to drill and run reps and I'll be honest, we had a week off this week. So, I mean, like Yeah, there was, you know, a little concern with that. That's when we'd all well, we'd always had this Father Tolkien game and stuff like that. But they've had some really good practices. I I've talked to Coach several times and he felt like we had a good week of practice. Good. They'll be ready to play our team. Oh, they'll be be like a caged animal. You're in there sticking a putting a stick in there.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

It's kind of like kind of like going through two-a-days in football. You know, you get tired of hitting on each other's.

SPEAKER_03 47:58

Exactly. It's time to go hit somebody else, so to speak. But I look forward to that. I'm ready for some basketball. Uh again, one of my favorite times of the year. I love it and I hate it too, because that means it's coming to the end.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:10

That's the part that I'm you know, you kind of get sad about not sad, but you hate to kind of see it in. But it's been a great season so far. 24 and 2. How can you be upset with that? You know, you we want to get this district title, and then you just never know at that point.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

One game at a time.

SPEAKER_03 48:26

That's it. That's it. One game at a time. So for that, let's let's call it a week, and we'll look forward to having on our guests next week. Thanks for hanging out with us. Thanks for listening. Again, please like, share, follow our page on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. Give us a shout out. Send us a message if there's somebody on here that you think we need to get, and we'll do what we can to get them on here. And for that, you are Micah Harris. I'm Matt Tanner.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

Good dogs.

SPEAKER_03 48:55

That's gonna do it for this episode of the Dog House. Thanks for hanging with us and showing love to Sykston, where small town pride runs deep and Bulldog Drit never quits. Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share this with anyone who bleeds red and black. From the heart of the 573, this has been the doghouse, where Sykston stories always have a home.