By Andrew Cato
ShowMe Times Sports

After starting the year with a deficit in the victory column, many people could have considered the 2010-2011 season a bust.

But, after two blowout wins against Richland and Scott City, a second-place finish at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, and a huge win over Notre Dame, the Bearcats are starting to build up some momentum and hopefully turn their season around.

The Bearcats kept their momentum going and came out on top against the Woodland Cardinals, with a final score of 68-40.

Dexter senior Alan Flannigan felt that “we came out a little flat and never picked up the energy 100 percent, but that’s coming off a tough game last night (Notre Dame); we still played well enough to get the job done.”

The Bearcats came out energetic enough, and opened the game with a 16-4 run in the first quarter. Going into halftime, Dexter had a 39-15 lead.


In the third quarter, Bearcat juniors Jordan Fitts and Tyler Miller hit consecutive 3-pointers, but Woodland ended with an 8-4 run, topped off by a 3-pointer from senior David Gray as time expired.

During the fourth quarter, both teams’ benches were used extensively. The Cardinals were never able to pull within 25 points of the Bearcats, but were able to outscore Dexter 11-6 in the frame.

“Our kids came out and played with good intensity and we played hard right off the bat. We were sloppy in the second half at times, but part of that is when you’re subbing a whole lot, the kids can’t get into the flow of the game and they make sloppy mistakes,” Dexter head coach Rob Nichols said. “They tired pretty quickly, which we expected after last night’s game, but all-in-all, we played pretty well.”

Nichols seemed pretty pleased with the Bearcats’ turnaround, and hopes to put their 0-5 start in their rearview mirror.

“When you start 0-5, it’s a long climb to get back to .500. It’s good to get there, but there’s a lot of basketball left to be played, and the goal’s not to be (around) .500, it’s to be way above .500, so hopefully we can keep climbing.”

Nine Bearcats contributed at least one score on the night, with Flannigan leading the team with 22 points, 10 of which came in their big first quarter run. Jordan Fitts and Josh Sifford tied for second, each contributing nine points. For Woodland, seniors Martin Williams and Neil Johnson each had 12 points.