By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

PARK HILLS, Mo. - The stage was set for the Lady Bearcats to advance in the State Tournament Wednesday (March 2) night at Mineral Area College. All the young Lady ‘Cats had to do was get past a seasoned Farmington Knightette team. Despite a slow first quarter and getting dominated on the glass all night, the Lady ‘Cats were able to play with Farmington for the last three quarters, but Farmington came out on top with a 68-44 final score.

Hannah Noe started the game with a three-point play for the Lady ‘Cats at the 7:25 mark, but Farmington was able to put up 12 unanswered points in the next three minutes. A 12-footer from Brittany Harris ended the Knightette scoring spree and set the score at 13-5 with 4:40 left in the first. Brittany Gladbach hit a deep trey for Farmington at the 4:10 mark, and teammate Tayhlor Milfeld followed suit with 1:00 left in the first quarter. With a 24-7 Farmington lead after one, the Lady’ Cats had to pick up their play or face a blowout.

Rachel Williams was a force to be reckoned with during the second quarter, putting up nine points, four rebounds, and a block in the frame. Harris provided most of Dexter’s offense, putting up six of the Lady ‘Cats‘ nine points in the frame. Dexter’s defense showed up in the second quarter, with Alison Jarrell and Harris having a steal apiece and Noe coming up with two. The Lady ‘Cats also held Farmington to 12 points in the frame - their lowest in the contest. Despite a solid defensive effort in the quarter, the Knightettes held a bit 19-point lead going into halftime.

Brittany Gladbach hit a three for Farmington on their first possession of the second half, and helping the Knightettes put up another nine unanswered. A Mollie Whitehead free-throw at the 5:20 mark ended the scoring spree, and Erika Cobb hit a 12-footer on the ensuing possesion. Noe drained a three for the Lady ‘Cats with 3:45 left in the third. Whitehead had a block with just over 2:00 left on the clock. Harris fouled out for the ‘Lady Cats during the last minute of the frame, but Jarrell hit her only three of the contest with time expiring to cut the Knightette lead to 21 points.

Farmington’s free-throw shooting skills were put on display in the closing quarter of the contest, but the Knightettes were able to connect on seven of their eight attempts. Paige Patterson led the way for the Lady ‘Cats in the fourth, putting up five points and hauling in three rebounds in the frame. Katelynn Frazier came up with a steal and took it the length of the floor for an easy bucket with 3:30 left in the contest, but the ‘Lady Cats couldn’t get any offensive consistency in the frame. The Knightettes found themselves on top after the final buzzer, winning by 24 points and advancing to the next round of the tournament.

“They [Farmington] did a great job of getting out on us early and taking advantage of our mistakes,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the loss. “They’re a veteran team with a lot of seniors. Farmington seemed a lot more fluid and got the ball inside to their bigs since the last time we played them. They looked like the best team we’ve played all year, and they’ll go far.”

Allen noted foul trouble and a slow start in the first half as key factors in the loss.

“We got into foul trouble early, especially Brittany [Harris],” Allen continued. “I thought that was a big part of it. Overall, I just felt like we didn’t come out and compete hard at the beginning of the game.”



 Despite a dissapointing loss to end a great 2010-2011 season, the Lady ‘Cats ended with an 18-10 record. Allen seemed optimistic about this young group’s future.

“Our girls have progressed so much throughout the course of this year. They’ve definitely grown up a lot since the first game,” Allen said of his team. “I’m proud of these girls for how hard they’ve worked and how much they’ve improved. There’s never been a team to come through Dexter that was this young that got this much experience. I told them after the game to remember how this feels; we’ve gotta work harder to get better and to get beyond this point in the years to come.”

Photos above Top Photo: Hannah Noe drives to the basket during Wednesday night’s season-ending loss against Farmington.
Bottom photo: Paige Patterson (No. 32), Mollie Whitehead (No. 3) and Erika Cobb (No. 15) all battle Farmington’s Tayhlor Milfeld (No. 12) for a loose ball during the second half of Wednesday night’s action.

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	7	9	17	12	44
FARMINGTON	24	12	18	15	68

DEXTER: Noe-11. Harris-8. Cobb-6. Jarrell-5. Frazier-5. Patterson-5. Whitehead-4.

FARMINGTON: Williams-23. Ankrom-16. Littrell-10. Gladbach-8. Hicks-4. Milfeld-3. Peterson-2. Porter-2.