By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BLOOMFIELD - The Dexter Bearcats and Bloomfield Wildcats met in another Stoddard County Conference matchup on Tuesday night. The Bearcats took control of the contest early, and despite a late surge from Bloomfield went on to take a 61-46 victory.

Tyler Miller knocked in seven of the Bearcats’ 14 unanswered points to open the contest. The senior led Dexter with 23 points in the game.

”Right off the bat, the first few times he touched the ball, he drove the baseline and got layups,” DHS head coach Rob Nichols said of Miller. “He’s a good athlete, and when he attacks the rim and uses his athleticism he’s a really good player. It’s a welcome sight to see him do that tonight.”

“We started out pretty well, but we still struggled offensively early in the game. We guarded pretty well and got some turnovers, and that gave us some points,” Nichols continued. “Defense is where we really had a lot of intensity early in the game.”

Chase Young and Jordan Fitts both completed three point plays for the ‘Cats in the second quarter, but the Wildcats crept within six points at the 3:00 mark. Miller buried a deep three with just over a minute left in the half, and the Bearcat press forced a 10 second call on the ensuing inbounds pass to take a 29-18 lead into halftime.

Miller picked up a three point play early in the second half; Dexter’s defense continued to play well, with Young picking up two steals in the third quarter to help the Bearcats to a 47-25 advantage.

Tom Sanders drained a three for Bloomfield to open the fourth quarter and help pull the Wildcats back within 17 at the 6:50 mark, but the Bearcats responded with a seven point run.

The Bearcats transitioned into their delay game at the 1:30 mark, but the Wildcats were able to put up six points in the last 30 seconds of the contest to bring the final score to 61-46 in favor of the Bearcats.

“I think we lost focus at different points in the game tonight, but we did a good job when they made a run and got the crowd into it a little bit,” Nichols said. “The kids went down, got a few stops and went down and got good possessions on offense.”

“We had a little letdown there at the end,” he added. “We were trying to work on our delay game, but we had a few miscues, some sloppy stuff, but other than at the end of the game, I thought we handled it pretty well.”

In the JV contest, the Bearcats exploded out to a 37-13 lead at the half, and played great defense throughout the contest.

The JV Wildcats’ eight point effort in the second quarter was their best of the night, and the JV Bearcats picked up a 55-21 victory.

The ‘Cats will be back in action on Friday, when they face off against the Bernie Mules on Homecoming night. Nichols noted his team’s determination and focus on the county-heavy schedule leading up to the annual Stoddard County Tournament.

“What we’re looking at right now is our Stoddard County Conference play. We’ve got Bernie on Friday night, and Puxico coming up, then a game with New Madrid and it’s straight into the county tournament,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at right now; the kids know that it’s important to them, and it’s important to the community; it’s what we’re focused in on right now.”

Tipoff for the Homecoming matchup is set for 6:00 p.m. from the Bearcat Event Center.