St. Louis, Missouri - Katelyn Heil, a graduate from Dexter High School and current student and basketball player at S&T in Rolla, played a big part in the S&T Lady Miners’ victory over the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis. Although the game contained many struggles from both sides of the court, the Lady Miners took the win on Thursday with a seven point lead.
During the game against the Tritons, Heil helped her team create a gap between their opponents, sinking a two-pointer. The Tritons retaliated by taking six shots in a row, allowing them to take the lead for the first time during the game. The game continued to flip-flop between the teams. Although the players tried hard to gather points, it was difficult because the teams felt like they had met their match.
Neither team could hold a lead larger than three points until Katelyn Heil brought up the Lady Miners’ dangling lead by hitting two free throws. The Lady Miners had finally created a five-point lead that allowed the players to relax the slightest bit.
The lead was severed when the Tritons easily made a shot, keeping the Lady Miners in the lead but diminishing the point-gap between the two. The Lady Miners were taken by surprise when a player on the opposite team dropped two free throws in the fourth quarter, making the score 51-49. The Lady Miners kept their lead going, bringing it back to the four-point-gap they held earlier in the quarter.
The score was 55-51 with only twenty-five seconds left on the clock until the game officially ended. The Lady Miners missed a shot, allowing the Tritons to snatch the rebound. Luckily, the players missed their chance to catch up to S&T by missing the attempted layup.
The Lady Miners grabbed the rebound and was fouled. They were able to make one out of the two free throws and had finally reached a five-point lead after the constant struggle of the past four quarters. With single digits left on the clock, the Tritons accidentally allowed the ball to get in hands of the Lady Miners. In fact, the ball ended up with Heil, where she ended up sinking two shots, with the last shot landing on the buzzer, allowing her team to take the victory with a final score of 58 to 51.
In their Thursday game, the Lady Miners made 11 out of the 31 shots that they made during the first quarter while the Tritons only made 7 out of 28 attempts. Eight points was the largest lead held during the game, which was achieved by Heil. Heil was also the second highest scorer of the game with nine points, following behind her teammate who had scored eleven. The Lady Miners only shot 19 out of 48 shots during the second half but made 68% of the free throws at the charity stripe.
Dexter’s very own Katelyn Heil helped the Lady Miners win their third game in a row. Sadly, the team lost their latest game against Maryville University on Saturday but the team is hoping to regain their winning streak as they prepare to play against Rockhurst Hawks this Thursday on January 31st, in Kansas City.
The residents of Dexter are very proud of Heil as she continues her love for the game of basketball for the fourth year in a row at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Heil has played sixteen games this far into the season and has continued to prove herself as a strong player. We are looking forward to the upcoming games that the Heil will be participating in as she continues to play strong offense for the Lady Miners for the fourth year in a row.
Bearcats were at a slight disadvantage on the night as senior Chase Young was sidelined with a knee injury he sustained late in the semi-final game. Much of the load shifted at the point to D. J. Dowdy for the Bearcats.
A very competitive game by both teams, neither team was able to load up the goal with baskets during the game. Only one player in the game was able to reach double figures in scoring as the game was an overall offensive struggle. Dexter was able to gain a narrow lead of 8 to 6 with a big 3-point basket by Nick Noble.
Bloomfield improved their offensive performance in the second quarter as Caleb Baker got smoking hot for the Wildcats. Caleb dropped in all nine of his points in the 2nd quarter to give Bloomfield a halftime 4-point lead over the Bearcats by halftime.
The second half continued to be a sleeper for both teams with strong defense and low scoring. Neither team showed a lack of effort on the court, but sometimes the offensive angels simply don't provide a lot of points for the scoreboard.
The 'Cats were able to take the Wildcats out of their normal offensive continuity only allowing points by Brett Ruch during the final quarter of the game. In the final minutes of the game, the Bearcats regained the lead by a narrow 1-point margin over the Wildcats.
With what looked to be one last attempt to win the game, Bloomfield brought the ball down the court in search of an opening in the Bearcat defense. Bloomfield's Brett Ruch made a driving attempt through the middle of the lane but was off the mark. A big rebound by Dexter's Brad Potts looked to move the advantage back to Dexter. Potts was immediately fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one with only 8-seconds remaining in the game.
Brad stepped to the line for the 'Cats and rolled in both crucial free throws giving the Bearcats a 3-point advantage. Bloomfield quickly traveled down the court in hopes of a 3-point basket for the tie, but those hopes fell short on two separate attempts by the Wildcats. Bearcats held on for the victory by a score of 40 to 37 to earn the 3rd place trophy.Bloomfield was led in scoring by Caleb Baker with 9-poitns. He was followed by Ruch with 8-points, Williamson with 7-points, Goode with 6, and Battles and Propst with 2 each.
Dexter was lead in scoring by D. J. Dowdy with 10-points. Brad Potts added 9-points for the Bearcats, along with 8-points by Nick Noble. Jordan Miller came off the bench and had an outstanding game defensively for the 'Cats while scoring 6-points. The Bearcats also had points by Austin Richardson (3), Ryan Joyner (2) and Chandler Young (2).
Check out the Bearcats as they go up against Puxico at home on Tuesday, January 29th. This is a rescheduled game due to some recent bad weather in the area. Game time 6:00 p.m.
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
"Bernie played very well tonight. Coach Botsch and Coach Long do a tremendous job at preparing their team and getting them ready to play and that was no different tonight," stated Bloomfield's Coach Jason Karnes.
"We had a tough time on both ends of the floor, and that was really contributed to how Bernie played. We must have a short memory as we have to come back tomorrow ready to play and compete against a very good Dexter team," continued Karnes. Bloomfield's Varsity record stands at 10-9 on the season.
Caleb Baker led the Wildcats with 21 points on the night. Brett Ruch had 15 points and Thomas Sanders had 10 points.
Bernie's David Baker had 24 points with B.J. Jennings scoring 17 points. Landon Woods came in at 14 points and Sam Turner rounded out at 10 points.
Coach Brad Botsch of Bernie stated, "I felt we played the first complete game we have in a long time. Bloomfield is a solid team, and playing them on their home floor, I know it would be tough to win. Our kids really came out and executed much better than we have been on both ends of the floor. After we got out to a lead, we also sustained our intensity and effort, which is something we haven't been doing."
"I was really pleased with our effort tonight. We will have to play well tomorrow night, as Advance is playing as well as anybody in the area right now, and they'll want to get us back for beating them earlier in the year." commented Botsch.
Friday night, the Bloomfield Wildcats will try to defeat Dexter for 3rd place in the SCAA Tournament. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Bernie Mules will be competing for the SCAA Championship Title as they try to defeat Advance. Game time is 8:30 p.m.
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Chase Young scored first for the Bearcats as he netted a 3-pointer in the first few seconds of the game. Dexter continued to fight hard in the first quarter, but they still managed to trail 18-12 heading into the second period.
Ethan Barr, Advance, seemed unstoppable as he led his team to victory with a game-high 33 points and simply just dominated the ball.
Barr who is 6'4" helped the Hornets pull away by scoring 13 points in the second quarter. It was Advance ahead by 15 at the half and over the next two quarters they slowly increased their lead to win by a score of 86 to 59.
Chase Young and Brad Potts led the Bearcats with 16 points each in the game against the Hornets as they were seeking their third straight run for the title at the SCAA Tournament. D.J. Dowdy had 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
"Advance really took it to us inside. They dominated the boards and we had no answer for Ethan Barr in the paint," commented Coach Nichols.
"We allowed those guys to dictate the pace of the game and I feel Advance just played exceptionally well," continued Dexter's head basketball coach.
Chase Young may have scored first for Dexter, but with just seconds remaining in the game, he was injured. You could tell he was in a great deal of pain as he was helped off the court and into the locker room. Status for tonight's third-place game is unknown at this time. We wish him the best of luck.
The SCAA Tournament continues for Dexter as they take the court to fight for third place against home team Bloomfield at 5:30 p.m.
The #1 seed Bernie Mules will take on the #2 seed Dexter Bearcats in the JV Championship game at 7:00 p.m. in Bloomfield. This should be quite the match-up!
#3 Bloomfield will take on #5 Advance at 4:00 p.m. for the 3rd place finish.
