By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

SIKESTON - Inconsistency has been a key term for the Bearcats in the last several games. A great effort in the third quarter carried the 'Cats to a six point lead heading into the fourth quarters, but three straight turnovers led to an 8-0 run for Fredericktown that ultimately ended Dexter's season in a 54-50 loss.

Poor free throw shooting and an offensive performance that left more to be desired in the fourth quarter proved to be the Bearcats Achilles' Heel in the loss.

"We turned it over three straight times in transition, and never got shots," head coach Rob Nichols said of the early fourth quarter. "They got back in it right there; we had a six point lead and gave it up on turnovers. We didn't shoot the ball from the free-throw line well; we just didn't play well offensively tonight. [We were] inconsistent, and a lot of it was mental focus. When you play lethargically, a lot of it comes down to mental focus."

"I don't feel like we played really well tonight," he continued. "I don't think our mental focus was there, and it made us look like we were lethargic all night. Hats off to Fredericktown, they had a lot to do with that."

The Bearcats jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but the Black Cats fought back and took a 6-4 lead at the 4:45 mark. A 15-footer and trey from Jordan Fitts in the last two minutes tied the game at 12 at the end of the first quarter.

A three from Tyler Miller and an offensive rebound and stickback from Jake Lee gave the 'Cats a 19-18 lead at 5:40, but a three from Keith Jackson on the next possession gave the Black Cats the lead. Cody Neldon picked up his third foul with 2:00 to go in the half, and exited the game. Back to back offensive rebound and stickbacks from Lee and Miller gave the 'Cats a 28-25 lead heading into halftime.

The Bearcats transitioned into their full-court press in the third quarter, and it gave the Black Cats troubles. Dexter forced a 10-second call at 5:35, and a Miller steal led to a Fitts three a minute later. Miller knocked down another trey to give the 'Cats a seven point lead at the 2:30 mark, and Lee's two free throws after the buzzer gave the Bearcats a 44-38 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Bearcats committed three straight turnovers to open the fourth quarter; Jackson knocked down another trey and the Black Cats pulled within one at the 5:40 mark. Jackson's third hit from downtown gave Fredericktown a 46-44 lead at 4:05. A layup from Lee cut the lead to two points with just over two minutes to go. The 'Cats forced a turnover with :15 left on the clock, but a three-point attempt from Fitts fell short with six seconds left in the game. The Black Cats knocked down clutch free throws with two seconds left and set the final score at 54-50.

Fredericktown's 6'8" center, Brock Mills, terrorized the glass throughout the game, and completed a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards. Nichols noted Mills' effort as a small piece of the puzzle in the loss. "[Mills] hurt us on the glass a bit, and he scored some, but I don't think their size hurt us as bad as turnovers and a lot of missed layups did," Nichols said. "We just didn't play very well offensively."

"We went to a press, we just didn't have any energy in the first half," Nichols said of the mid-game defensive swap. "We played flat defensively in the first half, so we went to a press, and it did all right. We still didn't guard well in the half-court."

The Bearcats end the season with a 13-12 record; Fredericktown improved to 18-9 on the season, and will face the Notre Dame Bulldogs (currently ranked No. 10 in the state) in part one of Wednesday night's semifinal doubleheader.

In Monday's nightcap, the Perryville Pirates rolled to a 74-59 win over Ste. Genevive. The Pirates will face off against the Sikeston Bulldogs (currently ranked No. 2 in the state) in Wednesday's nightcap.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Bearcats are set to open the 2012 Class 4, District Tournament tonight at the Sikeston Field House.

The Bearcats, who earned the No. 4 seed in the tournament, will face off against the No. 5 Fredericktown Black Cats. DHS head coach Rob Nichols noted the size advantage of the Black Cats as a key concern.

"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."

The Bearcats and Black Cats are set to tip things off at 6:00 p.m. tonight, and will be followed by the No. 3/No. 6 matchup between Perryville and Ste. Genevive at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Bearcats earned a first-round bye with their No. 1 seed, and won't be in action until Thursday (Feb. 23) night at 6:00 p.m., when they take on the winner of Tuesday night's Perryville/Ste. Genevive matchup.

"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," head coach Chad Allen said after last Thursday's season finale at Twin Rivers. "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."

The Lady 'Cats squeaked out the No. 1 seed over perennial power Notre Dame after splitting the season series. LBB opened the season with a 65-57 win over the Lady Bulldogs, but Notre Dame was able to pick up a 52-51 win over the Lady 'Cats on Feb. 7 at Notre Dame.

Click here to download the tournament bracket!

Reader-submitted by Melissa Hahn

Dexter's fifth grade traveling basketball team took home the Championship Trophy from the Stoddard County Tournament, held last weekend in Bell City. The 'Cats outscored opponents 108-24, and gave up just five points combined during the second half in their games. The team is coached by Ronnie Patterson and Brian Rogers, and consists of (front row, from left) Joe Rice, Nate Gargas, Seth Rogers, Eric Hahn, (back row, from left) Brock Simmons, Corbin Strong and Braxton Foster.

The Dexter Bearcats third-grade traveling basketball team continued their winning ways last weekend in the Farmington Winter Classic basketball tournament. The 'Cats are (first row, from left): Carter Dorton, Peyton Driskell, Ryder Boles, Dylan Sitze, Peyton Boles, (back row, from left) Austin Daniels, Riley Slusher, Andrew Ellinghouse, Cade Allen, and Ryan Collier. The 'Cats are coached by Dave Ellinghouse and Lloyd Hyten.

ROLLA – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners used a strong first half to surge past the William Jewell Cardinals 78-48 on Saturday afternoon on Billy Key Court. S&T made 8 of its first 10 shots en route to the blow out win.

The Lady Miners (18-7, 12-5 GLVC) scored the first seven points of the contest on Saturday and wouldn't look back. Courtney Kemp (Fredricktown, Mo./Fredricktown) had four of those first seven points.

The Cardinals (13-10, 8-9 GLVC) got within 7-3 on an old fashioned 3-point play from Holly Switzer at the 16:46 mark. They wouldn't get any closer the rest of the contest.

S&T answered by scoring 14 of the next 17 points over the next six minutes to take a commanding 21-6 lead into the under 10 minute timeout. Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) had four in that game deciding run while Julie Meyer (Marthasville, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) and Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) had three apiece.

WJC closed to within 25-10 on a layup by Aerial Smith with 8:49 to play.

The Lady Miners built its largest lead of the contest going on a 15-0 run over the next seven minutes to build a 40-10 advantage on a layup by Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) at the 1:44 mark. Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) and Sample combined to 10 of the 15 points in the run.

The Cardinals scored the final four points of the half to close within 40-14 at the break.

S&T shot 67 percent (14-for-21) from the floor, was 3-of-6 from downtown and 9-for-12 at the foul line in the opening frame.

Sample led the way with eight points while Meyer, Kemp and McLeod added six points each. The Lady Miners outrebounded WJC by a 15-11 margin and turned 11 Cardinal turnovers into 13 points.

William Jewell was just 5-of-23 (22 percent) in the opening half, 0-for-8 from behind the arc and 4-of-5 from the foul line. Tesia Danner had four points while Chelsea Meeks added three more.

The Cardinals came out of the halftime break strong opening the second half on a 15-4 run to get within 46-29 on a layup by Switzer at the 14:11 mark.

Sample and Meeks traded three's to keep the game at a 17-point margin on ensuing possessions.

S&T stretched its lead back to 24 on a putback by Quintonia Evans (Evansville, Ind.) with 9:57 to play. The lead dipped below 20 only once the rest of the way.

Pretty much everybody scored for the Lady Miners as Yael Pelleg (Rishon Lezion, Israel) hit a three with less than a minute to play to make it a 30-point final margin.

Meyer and Sample led the way with 12 and 11 points respectively. Kemp added nine while Kyesha Hall (Dodson, La.) dropped in eight and Parks chipped in with seven.

S&T finished the game shooting 59 percent (26-for-44) from the floor and was 7-of-13 from downtown. The one downside was the shooting at the foul line as it was just 19-for-31 (61.3 percent).

Both of Dexter, Missouri's Heil twins saw action in the contest; Katelyn and Cathryn each chipped in three points in the victory.

The Cardinals were 19-of-50 (38 percent) from the field but made just 10.5 percent (2-for-19) from downtown. They were 8-of-9 at the foul line. Meeks finished with a game-high 16 points, 13 in the second half. Smith and Katlyn Wood dropped in six each.

The Lady Miners close out the regular season at Drury next Thursday night at 5:45 p.m. S&T has also clinched a first round home game in the GLVC Tournament which will probably be next Sunday afternoon at a time to be announced.

Click here for the full box score.