By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - The Dexter Lady Bearcats haven’t played like a team consisting of freshman and sophomores for the last several weeks, instead playing like a team far older, and things weren’t any different for the team’s District Tournament debut. The young Dexter team rolled past an experienced Ste. Genevive team, with a 62-27 final score.

Brittany Harris scored the first bucket of the game with a 12-foot jumper at the 7:45 mark, and came up with a steal two minutes later. Paige Patterson had a block and steal with 5:00 left in the first, which led to an Alison Jarrell three. Harris came up with another steal at the 3:45 mark, and dropped in another two points to put the ‘Cats out to a 11-0 lead. Peyton Herrell completed a three-point play for the Hunters with 2:00 left in the quarter. Mollie Whitehead completed a three-point play for the Lady ‘Cats less than a minute later, pushing Dexter to a 17-3 lead. The Lady ‘Cats held a big 19-5 lead after the first quarter.

Erika Cobb was good from three-point land to open the second quarter for Dexter. Teammate Jarrell followed suit 45 seconds later, hitting her second three of the contest. Abbey Meyer was good for two free-throws for Ste. Gen. to end the Dexter scoring spree. Harris had an offensive rebound - one of 11 in the game for her - and putback at the 3:45 mark. Meyer continued to knock down free-throws for the Hunters - going a perfect six-for-six from the line in the frame - but Ste. Gen. trailed Dexter at halftime,35-16.

Dexter’s defense came alive in the second half, with Katelynn Frazier recording a steal in the opening 30 seconds of the third quarter. Jarrell hit two more three-pointers in the first half of the quarter. Cobb scooped up a loose ball at the 1:30 mark that led to a 15-footer from Mollie Whitehead. Herrell blocked a shot for Ste. Gen. in the frame, but Cobb recorded a block of her own on the ensuing possession. The Hunters trailed by 33 after the third quarter.

The ‘mercy rule’ kicked in for the Bearcats during the fourth quarter. Laura Rhoades hit a deep trey for the Hunters early in the quarter, but she was quickly answered by Jarrell, hitting her fifth three of the contest. Harris had another offensive board and putback for the ‘Cats at the 4:30 mark. Both teams subbed in during the last two minutes of the contest, with Kendra Stevenson, Raezheem Miller, and Sarah Langley all getting some playing time for the Lady ‘Cats. Despite scoring only seven points in the frame, the Lady ‘Cats went on to handily defeat the Ste. Genevive Hunters, 62-27.

“We really got after them [Ste. Gen.] defensively; we did a great job of pressuring their guards and limiting their bigs’ looks,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. “I told the girls in the locker room that we needed to set the tone early. They did a great job of executing on both ends of the floor.”

“She [Jarrell] missed her first two threes,” Allen said of Jarrell, “but great shooters keep shooting and she knocked down a few. That opened up the inside a bit, and Brittany [Harris] knocked down a lot of shots in there.”

“Brittany [Harris] is always active on both ends of the floor,” Allen continued on Harris, who had a double-double on the evening. “She gets a lot of rebounds and blocked shots. She gets a lot of good looks inside because she is so active.”

With Wednesday’s (Feb. 23) big win, the Lady Bearcats will move into Friday (Feb. 25) night’s District Championship game, where they will face the winner of the contest between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 4 Sikeston. Tipoff for Friday’s championship game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Bearcat Event Center. 
 Photos above Top Photo: Paige Patterson battles for a loose ball during Dexter’s 62-27 routing of Ste. Genevive Wednesday night.
Bottom photo: Brittany Harris puts up a shot during the second half of Wednesday night’s big win over Ste. Gen. Harris had a double-double in the contest, putting in 23 points and hauling in 11 rebounds.

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	19	16	20	7	62
STE. GENEVIVE	5	11	5	6	27

DEXTER: Harris-23. Jarrell-15. Frazier-8. Cobb-7. Whitehead-7. Noe-1.

STE. GENEVIVE: Meyer-8. Herrell-5. Rhoads-4. Klein-3. Dallas-2. Steagall-1.