By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

FREDERICKTOWN - The Lady Bearcats came out with a bang during their first District contest of the 2011-2012 season on Monday night. After a long road trip to Fredericktown, the Lady ‘Cats were able to pick up wins on both the JV and Varsity levels against the Black Cats.


In the JV contest, things looked like they might be ugly for the Lady Bearcats early on in the game. Fredericktown shut out the ‘Cats in the first quarter, but a late run in the second quarter helped Dexter cut the lead to 12-8 at the half.

The Lady ‘Cats were able to outscore Fredericktown in the third, 8-7, to cut their advantage to 19-16 after three quarters of play.


The JV ‘Cats battled back to within two with under two minutes left in the contest, when Katie Reiker hit two free throws to tie the game at 26-26.

Alexis Smith hit a jumper from the elbow with under a minute left in the game to seal the Lady Bearcat victory and improve the JV squad’s record to 3-1 on the season.

The Varsity contest was eerily similar to last Thursday’s 94-20 shellacking of the NMCC Lady Eagles; the Lady Bearcat offense was firing on all cylinders, while the full-court press was highly effective on the defensive end.

“Offensively, I thought we had a great game just like that Thursday,” head coach Chad Allen said after the game. “I thought our girls did a great job of finding the open man and really looking at getting the ball inside.”


Allen was pleased with his team’s continuing effort to find the open man and not force bad passes - one of his key areas of improvement in the preseason.

“At times, when we were denied inside, I thought our guards did a good job of recognizing that, not forcing it in there and taking an open shot,” he continued. “I thought we had a great outside game tonight as well.”

The Lady Bearcats dominated in the paint throughout the contest; Brittany Harris had a double-double, with 19 points and 13 boards, while Paige Patterson had 13 and 6. Mollie Whitehead rounded out the middle attack with 8 points and 5 boards.

Perimeter shooting was ‘business as usual’, with Alison Jarrell hitting 4 of 6 from beyond the arc and Erica Cobb knocking down 3 of 4.

Hannah Noe also had a double-double for the Lady ‘Cats, with 12 points and 11 assists.


The Lady ‘Cats have been hard at work on their full-court press defense in the last few games, and have really shown great skill in it. Noe and Katelynn Frazier were both very effective in the trap game, and Allen was proud of how his girls worked the press.

“It was very effective, picking up full court tonight. I thought our conditioning looked really good, and hopefully we can keep that up,” he said. “We like to keep pressure on other teams, and eventually they’ll wear down. We definitely like to try to get up and down the court offensively and put as much pressure as we can on other teams defensively.”

With the 97-44 victory, the Lady ‘Cats move to 5-2 on the season, and they will be in action again Thursday night against the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs. Allen noted the similarities between the two teams, and feels the better-conditioned squad will emerge the victor in another District contest.

”Sikeston is a lot like us; they want to pressure you full court and they like to push the ball offensively,” Allen said. “Its going to be a fast-paced game. Hopefully we’re in good enough condition to last all four quarters as fast as that game is going to be.”


The JV contest will tip at 6:00 p.m. in the Bearcat Event Center, with the Varsity game immediately following.






POPLAR BLUFF - It may have taken the Three Rivers Lady Raiders a little time to get going Saturday, but once they did they were unstoppable.

Three Rivers ran off 27 straight points in the second half to turn a 16-point lead into a runaway to roll past the Shawnee Lady Saints 92-54 in a Midwest Community College Athletic Conference game at the Bess Activity Center.

“The 27-0 run was kids being in the right spots and doing the right things on offense and defense,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. “When that takes place, good things happen.”

The Lady Saints trailed 47-31 after Michelle Greaney’s basket with 18:07 left in the game, but the Lady Raiders (6-4) tightened up on defense, keeping Shawnee scoreless for over 10 minutes as their offense caught fire.

Three Rivers did it with balance too, as eight different players put points on the board during a 27-0 run that was capped when Brooke Godsey sank a pair of free throws with 8:39 to go that made it 74-31.

“We had four kids in double figures – three with 16 points,” said Walk. “That’s hard to play against.”

The first half was a different story, however.

Whitney Mills’s 3-pointer with 16:03 left in the opening half put the Lady Raiders up 10-4, but back-to-back treys from Kaylin Goins tied the game approximately a minute later.

Back-to-back baskets by Godsey and Carolyn Overton ignited an 11-2 run to make it 21-12 on an Overton bucket with a little over nine minutes left before halftime, but Shawnee answered again, cutting the lead to 23-20 on Destiny Dillow’s bucket with 8:14 left in the opening session.

“They’re going to compete,” Walk said. “That’s what they do every day in practice. They’re not just going to come in and lay down.”

Godsey then stepped up again, sinking back-to-back baskets to spark a 10-0 run that made it a 33-20 game on Abbie Warren’s field goal with 5:24 left in the opening half – her first points of the season after missing time with an injury – as the Lady Saints came no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Overton, Mills and Godsey led Three Rivers with 16 points each, while Hower added 12. Overton pulled down 13 rebounds for a double-double, while Mills made a run at a triple-double with seven boards and eight assists.

The Lady Raiders are back in action Tuesday when they host Arkansas Baptist. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. at the Bess Activity Center.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - After a solid first twenty minutes, Sacred Heart took control of the game in the second half and held off Lafayette for an 84-79 victory at the Pitt Center. Jim Mower led all scorers with 24 points, but it wasn't enough as SHU shot 50 percent from the field in the contest.

The home side jumped out to a 22-14 lead after Louis Montes connected on a three pointer with 8:12 to play in the frame. Trailing by eight, Lafayette (4-6) strung together a 14-2 run over a 4:01 span, making the score 28-24 with three minutes to play before halftime. The spurt was capped by Mower's up and under reverse layup and the Leopards' took a 33-29 lead into the break.

In the second half Sacred Heart (6-6) scored eight of the first 10 points to take a 37-35 lead. At the 15:30 mark Joey Ptasinski sank a triple to put Lafayette back ahead by a point, but Sacred Heart answered with a three of its own, claiming the lead for good. SHU then extended its advantage to 11 points, 71-60, on Phil Gaetano's layup and free throw with 6:13 to play.

Lafayette would not go away, going on a 10-2 spurt in 3:06. Two Ryan Willen field goals, a Nick Petkovich three ball (playing with four fouls) and a Seth Hinrichs corner three pulled Lafayette within three (73-70) at the 3:07 point. SHU scored the next five, but Hinrichs drained another three-pointer, Rob Delaney made a free throw and then pulled up and hit a straightaway three with 1:05 showing to cut the deficit to 78-77.

On the next possession, Shane Gibson took the shot clock down to single digits and knocked down a three from the top of the key, effectively sealing the game. Gibson paced Sacred Heart with 22 points and collected seven rebounds as the Pioneers held a 37-30 advantage on the glass.

Hinrichs netted a new career-high, scoring 17 points while Willen and Delaney chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Dexter native Alan Flannigan got two defensive boards during his seven minutes in the game.

Lafayette continues its three game road swing when it travels to Vanderbilt on Dec. 21. Opening tip from Nashville, Tenn. is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

Making plans for your Christmas vacation?  Well here is an opportunity for your young baseball player to travel to St. Louis to participate in a baseball camp with professional baseball player and former Cardinals' great, Jason Simontacchi.

The camp will be held December 26 through the 30th with sessions from 9:00 AM to 11:45 AM each day. The cost will be $35 per day per player.

Players will rotate through stations focusing on hitting, pitching, fielding, base running and more. Skills will be improved and fun will be had during this dynamic baseball camp. Bring your bat and glove; players will be grouped with their teammates and/or friends.

For more information about the Jason Simontacchi Baseball Camp, please contact Chris Horan, 314-442-3498. You can also email chris at choran@jccstl.org.

More information can be found by clicking here: SIMO's BASEBALL CAMP.

Many of you will remember Jason as the speaker for the 2011 Disciple Now "The Unit". He is an awesome teacher and an incredible guy. Well worth the short trip to St. Louis to get your baseball skills sharpened up for the 2012 baseball season.


More information can be found by clicking here:

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Missouri S&T Lady Miners raced past the Kentucky State Thorobrettes 74-46 winning its seventh straight to start the season. It’s only the third time in school history that an S&T team has started 7-0.

After an early tie S&T went on a 20-4 run building a 22-6 lead near the midway part of the stanza. The Lady Miners extended its lead to 24 points by half and wouldn’t see the lead fall below that the rest of the way.

Hailee Parks had 11 in the first half to lead S&T. The Lady Miners shot 48 percent (13-for-27) from the floor and were 8-of-9 at the foul line. They also held a 24-14 edge on the boards. S&T held KSU (2-4) to just 20 percent shooting (6-for-30) from the field.

The Lady Miners opened the second half scoring 14 of the first 19 points extending their 22 point lead to 35 early in the stanza. Their lead grew to as many as 37 with 5:49 to play on a pair of free throws from Carissa Richardson.

The Thorobrettes cut the lead to less than 30 but were unable to get closer as S&T outscored them 40-34 in the second half.

Parks led all scorers with 17 points. Karli Sample added a career-high 16 while Julie Meyer added 10 more.

Dexter native Katelyn Heil chipped in 4 points The Lady Miners finished the contest shooting a season-high 52 percent from the floor (25-of-48) and were 21-of-27 at the foul line. S&T finished with an advantage of 38-28 on the glass.

Raven Ward and Jasmine Davis led the way for KSU with 13 and 12 points respectively. Brielle Newton added eight off the bench. The Thorobrettes shot 30.5 percent from the field (18-for-59).