By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The difference between the Dexter Bearcats' performances on Tuesday and Friday night is nothing short of astounding; if you said they looked like a different team on the court, you wouldn't be too far off the mark.

Despite a disappointing 76-69 overtime loss to the Cape Central Tigers on senior night, the Bearcats have nothing to hang their heads about heading into the Class 4, District 1 Tournament.

"We played a lot better tonight than we did Tuesday night," head coach Rob Nichols said. "You can take some positives from that, but at the same time, we had our chances and didn't get it done. The kids are disappointed, but hopefully we can bounce back and play well again Monday night."

Cape Central's TJ Tisdell was dominant in the paint all night, scoring 33 points and 16 rebounds. The 'Cats were able to get him out of the game with foul trouble late in the third and early in the fourth, which Nichols noted as part of the plan heading into the contest.

"We didn't know if we could stop Tisdell or not; the gameplan was to try and take it at him, see if we could get him in foul trouble a little bit," Nichols continued. "Most people think you would want to speed it up against these guys, but we really wanted to make sure we got high percentage shots on offense because we've been struggling with turnovers lately. We wanted to make sure controlled the pace of the game on the offensive end, and for the most part I thought we played well offensively. We just had a heck of a time stopping Tisdell no matter what we did."

Jake Lee (19 points, 13 boards) was given the tough task of guarding Tisdell for the majority of the contest; despite the numbers, Lee played a solid game inside, and made Tisdell work for every point.

"We tried three or four different defenses tonight. If [Tisdell] didn't score, it seemed like he always got the rebound, and he's a good free throw shooter," Nichols said. "He's a good player, maybe even the conference player of the year. We played a lot of man on him, and Jake Lee did a good job; he made him work for what he got." The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead thanks to a pair of treys from Tyler Miller in the first quarter. The Tigers rattled off four straight to open the second and take a 17-16 lead at the 6:37 mark. Both teams traded buckets for the remainder of the first half, with the Tigers clinging to a 33-32 lead at halftime.

The Bearcats came out hard in the second half, and tied the game on a Cody Neldon transition layup at the 5:26 mark. The Tigers put together a 13-5 run to close out the third quarter with a 57-48 lead.

Dexter netted 10 unanswered points early in the fourth quarter, while the Tigers struggled against the Bearcats' press. A trey from Miller tied the game with 55 seconds left. Tisdell missed a short-range jumper at the buzzer to force overtime.

Tisdell made up for his blunder at the end of regulation with four straight points to open the overtime period. The Bearcats pulled within three at the 1:30 mark thanks to a steal from Miller and layup by Jordan Fitts, but the Tigers hit eight of 10 free throws when the Bearcats were forced to foul for possession late. Fitts knocked down a three with under 30 seconds left, but the Tigers held on for a 76-69 win.

"We're not deep enough to press a whole game," Nichols said of the fourth quarter ball pressure. "We're deep enough that if we can press in spots, we can be effective with it. We just thought we could press at that point and they wouldn't have finishers at the back of it."

Nichols was quick to compliment the efforts of his three seniors, Tyler Miller, Jordan Fitts, and Jake Lee, in their (barring a playoff appearance) last game at the Bearcat Event Center.

"We told the seniors, 'It's your last night to play at home; go out and lead the younger guys, and you younger guys, don't let the seniors down. Leave everything on the court.' I thought we did; we were coachable tonight, and the kids played hard," Nichols said. "Tyler, Jake, and Jordan all played well, and that's a great thing to see in their last game on their home floor."

The Bearcats will be back in action on Monday night, when they travel to Sikeston to take on the Fredericktown Black Cats in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament. DHS earned the No. 4 seed in the bracket, one better than Fredericktown at No. 5.

"Fredericktown is a much improved team over what they've been in the past three or four years," Nichols said. "They've got a big 6'8" kid that's a good player, they've got a guard that really penetrates well. We'll have to play well to beat them. They're a good team."

Tipoff for the tournament matchup is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

VINCENNES – Holding an 11-point lead with 7:16 left in the first half, it looked like Three Rivers might just pull another upset Wednesday night.

Then attrition took its toll – and the Vincennes Lady Trailblazers took advantage, taking the lead for good right before halftime and dominating down the stretch to take a 92-62 win over the Lady Raiders here at the Vincennes University Physical Education Complex.

“They were running several players in,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. “Our kids were playing as hard as we could play, trying to overcome a lot of adversity. We just kept battling and kept battling, but they just wore us down at the end.”

Three Rivers (9-16) trailed 53-48 after Whitney Mills’ basket with 12:29 remaining in the game, but back-to-back baskets by Jalen Green and a bucket by Channie Williams gave the Lady Blazers a 59-48 lead less than two minutes later as the home team began to take control.

“I’m at a loss of why,” said Walk. “We got a couple of kids in foul trouble and that kind of took the wind out of our sails. If we had weathered that storm right there, who knows what would have happened?”

Mills drained a 3-pointer with just under nine minutes to go to cut the deficit to 63-53, but the Lady Raiders did not score again from the field for over four minutes as Vincennes scored 11 straight points to take a 78-55 lead on Taylor Hawkins’ basket near the five-and-a-half minute mark to effectively put the game on ice.

Earlier though, it was a different story. Three Rivers used a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take a 24-14 lead after back-to-back baskets by Brooke Godsey with 8:42 left in the opening session.

“It’s kind of like a prize fight,” “We came out with a good 1-2 punch. (Vincennes) came out and responded and they countered – and they just wore us down.”

Abbie Warren’s free throw with 7:16 to go before the intermission made it 28-17, but the Lady Blazers (23-4) got hot, tying the game at 31 on Green’s basket near the 2:25 mark of the first half, then taking a 33-31 lead on Green’s free throws with 1:50 remaining before the break.

Tara Porter’s free throws 13 seconds later tied the game again at 33, but a pair of free throws by Ingrida Strikas and another basket by Green made it 37-33 at the half.

Shanice Gholson’s free throws with 13:32 left in the game increased the Vincennes’ lead to 53-42, but the Lady Raiders made one final push, scoring six straight points to make it 53-48 on Mills’ trey before the wheels started to come off.

Mills led Three Rivers with 23 points, while Godsey added 16.

Strikas paced the Lady Trailblazers with 21 points while Gholson tossed in 13, Green and Zhanna Chukhriy each chipped in 11 and Skylar Shunn finished with 10.

The Lady Raiders are back in action Saturday when they head to Mineral Area for a Region XVI contest. Tipoff time is set for 5 p.m. at Bob Sechrest Fieldhouse.

KANSAS CITY – There was no need for any last second drama this time around in Kansas City as the Missouri S&T Lady Miners closed the first half strong en route to a blow out 69-44 win at Rockhurst on Thursday evening. In its trip to Kansas City last season the Lady Miners needed a steal on the game's final possession to hang on for the 52-51 victory.

The first 13 minutes of the opening half were a see-saw affair with each side answering each other basket for basket. S&T (17-7, 11-5 GLVC) led by as many as three early while Rockhurst (5-19, 2-14 GLVC) held a two-point edge.

With the score tied at 18-18 the Lady Miners dominated the final six minutes of the frame by scoring 14 of the final 16 points to take a 32-20 lead into the locker room at the break. Julie Meyer (Marthasville, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) and Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) scored four points apiece in the run.

S&T shot 57 percent (13-for-23) from the field in the opening half and were 6-of-8 at the foul line. Parks led the way with nine while Kyesha Hall (Dodson, La.) added six and Meyer dropped in five. Courtney Kemp (Fredricktown, Mo./Fredricktown) and Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) added four each.

The Hawks shot just 31 percent (8-for-26) from the floor and was led by MaKayla Grahn with five points.

Grahn scored the first basket of the second stanza for Rockhurst to cut the deficit to 10.

From that point on it was all Lady Miners scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 16 point advantage 2:30 in.

The Hawks closed to within 12 but for the most part S&T held a 16-point lead for a majority of the second half.

S&T eventually built its lead to as many as 27 on a put back from Quintonia Evans (Evansville, Ind.) with 4:24 to play.

The Lady Miners finished the contest shooting 46 percent (25-for-53) from the field and went 18-of-26 (69 percent) from the foul line.

Parks led S&T with a game-high 20 points while Hall added 10. Meyer finished with nine while Sample, Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) and Katelyn Heil (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) added seven points apiece.

Rockhurst shot just 27 percent (18-for-67) from the floor and were led by Grahn's nine points. Chrissy Sarcone, Allison Streich and Susan Hohenadel added six apiece.

S&T closes out the regular season at home on Saturday playing host to William Jewell beginning at 3 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. but was bumped to accommodate WJC.

Prior to Saturday's game the Lady Miners will be honoring their seniors in their final home game.

Click here for the full box score.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Dexter Bearcats have three wrestlers remaining in the MSHSAA Class 2 State Tournament.

Cody Stevens (160 lbs.) was the only Bearcat to win his opening match during Thursday's competition. Cole Dean (132 lbs.) and Trevor Waldner (126 lbs.) lost their first match, but were able to win their 'wrestleback' matches to advance to Friday.

According to DHS Wrestling coach Rick Schwab, Stevens will wrestle Makenna Cook of Kirksville in his opening match on Friday; the Cook qualified in his freshman year with a 48-2 record on the season. Dean and Waldner won't know who their next opponents will be until the conclusion of today's semifinal round.

Brad Wick (170 lbs.) and Dylan Bazarian (152 lbs.) have both been eliminated after recording two losses on Thursday. Wick's junior season saw his first trip to the State Tournament, while Bazarian qualified this year as a freshman.

UPDATE (10:51 a.m.)

Cody Stevens was pinned in the third round by Makenna Cook; he will wrestle Blake Joiner of Moberly, a sophomore with a 31-13 record in his 'wrestleback' match.

Trevor Waldner will face Wordell Morgan of Berkely, a senior with a record of 32-12.

Cole Dean will wrestle Jesse Sherman of Bolivar, a senior with a 44-4 record.

UPDATE (12:43 p.m.)

Stevens is the lone Bearcat remaining in the MSHSAA Class 2 State Wrestling tournament.

Dean and Waldner both lost their matches today, eliminating them from competition. Stevens will move on to face Braxton Todd of Excelsior Springs, who sports a 31-14 record.

If Stevens wins his 'bubble' match tonight, he will be guaranteed a medal, and will move on to Saturday's competition.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BROSELEY - The Lady Bearcats closed out the regular season with a bang on Thursday night; LBB shot 48% from the floor on the way to a 70-33 rout of the Lady Royals on their senior night.

The Lady 'Cats got off to a slow start, but ultimately picked up the intensity on offense and utilized an overwhelming full-court press to pick up the big win.

"I thought offensively we got off to a slow start tonight," head coach Chad Allen said. "We didn't shoot the ball well out of the gate, but once we got on rhythm, we made a huge run."

"You could tell Twin Rivers came out with a lot of intensity. It was their senior night, so we knew they would," Allen continued. "They started to wear down midway through the first quarter, and our press started bothering them a lot, and that also helped us get on that big run."

LBB missed several shots from the paint in the first quarter. Tori Cole blocked two shots in the frame for the Lady Royals, but Dexter held a 14-9 lead after the first.

Alison Jarrell knocked down her second three of the night at the 6:00 mark to give the 'Cats a 29-11 lead. Erika Cobb added two treys in the frame, and a 15-footer at the buzzer from Taylor Owens gave the Lady 'Cats a 44-13 advantage at halftime.

The Lady 'Cats continued to run away with the game in the third quarter; Jarrell's seven point effort, including her third trey, nudged LBB to a 65-26 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.

A running clock greeted the Lady 'Cats in the fourth quarter; Hannah Noe buried a three midway through the frame. The Lady 'Cats found themselves on top when the final buzzer sounded with a 70-33 final.

The Lady 'Cats picked up a 29-23 victory in the JV contest for a sweep on the evening.

Cole collected a double-double for the Royals with 21 points and 11 blocked shots.

"Tori Cole is a very good player; she's long and athletic, and she caused some problems for us inside," Allen said. "She had around ten blocked shots, but Brittany and Paige battled all night."

Harris picked up a double-double for the Lady 'Cats with 10 points and 11 boards; Mollie Whitehead added 10 and nine, while Paige Patterson netted nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Lady 'Cats now look to the Class 4, District 1 tournament, where they picked up the No. 1 seed and a bye in the first round.

"I know our girls are going to be focused this week. We're going to take a couple days off, then get back in the gym on Sunday and Monday to prepare for districts," Allen said. "We'll definitely go take a look at the Ste. Gen-Perryville game Tuesday night. Both teams are similar, and it should be a good game between them. Ste. Gen beat Farmington earlier this year; we can't overlook anybody, and we're going to have to go in there and play hard."

"I think we've improved on a lot of aspects of the game; our guard play has gotten better throughout the year," Allen said of his squad. "Our inside presence has gotten better as well; Paige has really come a long way in the last year. A lot of it is gaining confidence; they've played more and are building confidence."

The Lady 'Cats will be in action again on Thursday, Feb. 23, when they take on either No. 3 Perryville and No. 6 Ste. Genevive; tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from the Sikeston Field House.