By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - After a tough overtime loss Tuesday (Feb. 15) night at Poplar Bluff, the Dexter Lady Bearcats came home for their last game of regular season play. The Lady ‘Cats again played like a team older than they are, dominating on defense and owned the glass all night. After the final buzzer, Dexter closed the regular season with a victory, defeating Twin Rivers with a 57-22 final score.

Hannah Noe had a chance for a three-point play in the first 10 seconds of the contest, but couldn’t connect on the free throw. Katelynn Frazier came up with a steal and layup on the ensuing possession. Alison Jarrell hit a three at the 4:25 mark, pushing Dexter out to an 8-1 lead. Dexter executed its half-court defense to near-perfection throughout the entire game: Frazier, Noe, Jarrell, and Mollie Whitehead all had steals in the first quarter. The ‘Cats ended the first with a big 17-5 lead over the Lady Royals.

Turnovers marred the second quarter of play for both teams. Harris continued to dominate on the defensive end of the court, coming up with a block and steal in the second quarter. Hannah Sadler was able to make a steal for Twin Rivers, drive the length of the court, and hit one of two free throws with 5:45 left in the half, ending the Lady ‘Cats’ 6-0 run. Paige Patterson had a big offensive rebound and putback at the 1:10 mark, pushing Dexter’s lead to 20. Alix Jones came up with a steal and layup for the Royals with 18 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 18, but Harris was able to hit a 12-footer at the buzzer to keep Dexter’s lead at 20 going into halftime.

Razheem Miller picked up a loose ball and dished it off to Harris for two to open the third quarter for the Lady ‘Cats. Jarrell hit her second three of the night, giving Dexter a 38-13 lead. Harris made more big plays for the Lady ‘Cats in the second half - she blocked a shot at the 5:25 mark, and on the ensuing possession she scored, picked off Twin Rivers’ inbounds pass, and scored again. Harris blocked her third shot of the night with 2:05 left in the quarter. Jarrell hit her third, and final, three of the contest at the buzzer, pushing the Lady ‘Cats’ lead to 36 points going into the fourth quarter.

The ‘mercy rule’ kicked in for Dexter in the fourth quarter, and Twin Rivers was never able to pull within 30 to stop the clock. Jones made another steal for the Lady Royals in the frame, but wasn’t able to score. Sarah Langley got a lot of playing time in the frame, and was good for one of two free-throws. The Lady Royals outscored Dexter 4-3 in the frame, but the Lady ‘Cats still ended the game with a 35-point victory.

“I thought the girls did an excellent job defensively tonight,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. “Twin Rivers is good in transition and has some great shooters, especially number 12 [Kelsey Snider] and number 4 [Tori Cole]. The girls are hungry right now, and its showing.These girls have grown up a lot. Early in the year, we played timid and weak at times, but not here recently. We’re more aggressive, and we’ve played a lot stronger.”

Katelynn Frazier left the game in the second quarter with an apparent head injury.

“She came out and said she had a bad headache, and after a while she said she felt a little nauseous,” Allen said of Frazier. “We didn’t want to take any chances. Tomorrow she’ll get evaluated, and we’ll take it from there. She [Frazier] is hard nosed - she wanted back in there, but we definitely weren’t going to put her back on the floor. We aren’t going to take any chances right now.”

Thursday night wrapped up the regular season for the Lady ‘Cats, who finished with a record of 16 wins, 9 losses. Next week is the start of the ‘second season’ for the Bearcats, the Class 4, District 1 Tournament, which will be held at the Bearcat Event Center.


“That one and two spot, there’s not any difference at all in it,” Allen said on the Lady ‘Cats No. 2 seed. “It just depends on who you’ll play in the semifinal game. Both Sikeston (No. 4) and Ste. Genevieve (No. 3) are tough ball clubs. We can’t afford to overlook them.We’ve gotta take it one game at a time; like I said, our girls are hungry. They’re focused right now, and just ready to get started.”

The Lady ‘Cats will play the winner of Monday (Feb. 21) night’s contest between Ste. Genevive and Fredericktown on Wednesday (Feb. 23). Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Photos above Top Photo: Brittany Harris puts up a shot over Twin Rivers’ Mallory Douglas.
Bottom photo: Raezheem Miller blocks Chelsea Crain’s path to the basket during Senior Night on Thursday (Feb. 17).

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	17	16	21	3	57
TWIN RIVERS	5	8	5	4	22

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

DEXTER	FG	3s	FT	TOTAL			TWIN RIVERS	FG	3s	FT	TOTAL
Whitehead	2	--	3-5	7			Crain	--	--	3-6	3
Frazier	3	--	1-2	7			Cole	2	--	3-6	7
Noe	2	--	0-1	4			Shearer	1	--	--	2
Jarrell	--	3	--	9			Hester	--	--	2-3	2
Cobb	3	--	4-4	10			Gyess	1	--	--	2
Harris	7	--	1-2	15			Snider	1	--	1-3	3
Patterson	1	--	2-4	4			Douglas	--	--	1-2	1
Langley	--	--	1-2	1			Jones	1	--	--	2