Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Dexter, Missouri – The DHS Bearcats traveled to Bell City to compete against the Cubs Tuesday evening. It was Senior Night for the Bell City Basketball Team.
There were four Bearcats in double digits last night. D.J. Dowdy #11 had a great game with 20 points including four field goals. Brad Potts #22 and Freshman Chandler Young #32 both scored 12 points, five baskets and two field goals for each of them. Nick Noble #4 had 11 points for the game including two 3-pointers.
The Bell City Cubs tried to hold off the Bearcats through most of the game. The first quarter was all Bearcats ending with a 21 – 13 lead; however the second quarter was much tighter on the points. The Cubs and Bearcats scored only 13 points more before the end of the first half. Half-time score Dexter 34, Bell City 26.
The Cubs did get some momentum in the second half, but not enough to close the gap and beat the Bearcats. Final score Dexter Bearcats 62, Bell City Cubs 51.
Dexter Bearcats Coach Rob Nichols commented, “I felt we played well early in the game getting out to a sizable lead; however I think we lost focus defensively near the end of the first half. We didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight and I think that frustration led to some lapses defensively.”
The Bell City Cubs leading scorer was Jared Yates #5 and Aaron Smith #11. Both had 13 points against the Bearcats. Aaron Smith shot three great 3-pointers. Trey Grigel #12 followed them in double digits scoring 10 points for the Cubs.
“We are a team that has to compete every possession and value the ball offensively to give ourselves a chance,” continue Coach Nichols. “We have to give Bell City credit as I thought they played a very hard game on their Senior Night.”
The Dexter Bearcats will be in action again at the Bearcat Event Center on Friday, February 8th where they will take on the Kennett Indians. Game time 6:00 p.m.
Written by
Beth Farrar, SMT Writer
It was a great victory for the Richland Rebels on their home court as they played against the Kelly Hawks earlier tonight. The Rebels weren’t sure how this game would turn out due to the turn out of their last home game against the Risco Tigers, where they lost after a long winning record of home games. Tonight, the Rebels really redeemed themselves and proved that their hard work and dedication as both players and teammates has finally paid off.
The Rebel fans and the Rebel Rousers Pep Club were at the gym tonight all riled up and ready to watch a good game but they had no idea that it was going to be as good as it was. When the first quarter started, Richland got the tip off and scored five points in a row with ease due to free throws. The Kelly Hawks had a problem with getting their hands on the ball for more than a couple seconds. The Rebels received multiple free throws throughout the game due to the Hawks fouling.
Senior Nick Daniels and his teammate senior Richard Forshee both made each of their free throws and played a major part in the Rebels’ defense. Sophomore Marcus Grayson ran offense for the Rebels and scored multiple times by tossing up layups. Forshee caught nearly every rebound the Hawks tried to make. For the majority of the quarter, the Hawks didn’t have any points at all, but when time ran out, the quarter ended with a score of 21 to 8.
During the second quarter, the Rebels established a twenty point lead due to many more fouls called on the Hawks, giving the Rebels a chance to sink more free throws. Forshee, Daniels, and Grayson all had a number of points throughout the quarter and were in perfect harmony while passing to each other and their teammates. The twenty point lead that was made during this quarter was kept throughout the rest of the night. Junior Adam Lane was put into the game and was a strong defensive player as the Hawks attempted to catch up with the home team. When the buzzer went off for half time, the score of the second quarter was 46 to 22 with the Rebels still in the lead.
During halftime, the Rebel Pep Band played a couple of new songs that they have been practicing in band class. The crowd loved their performance and enjoyed the variety of different types of music, including the original classic song: Go Big Red. The other songs that were performed include: Dixie, Chameleon, Fifth of Beethoven, and Hot Hot Hot.
As the game continued, the third quarter seemed to bring troubles for both teams. The harmonic passing and the rhythm of the ball seemed to change and players in both jerseys were missing the ball or passing to the other team. The Rebels seemed to stop playing their defense and tried to switch over to offense, leaving the Kelly players wide open and allowing them to shoot three pointers with ease. The Rebels still had multiple free throws and kept the lead, turning the twenty point lead into a thirty point lead by the end of the third quarter with a score of 65 to 37.
During the final quarter, the Kelly Hawks could not catch up to the Rebels as the Rebels began to score like they had in the first half of the game. Senior Jesse Barnes had multiple blocks that had the crowd cheering as Forshee got the rebound and tossed the ball to Grayson, who went in for another layup. The Rebels got back on their feet and started playing with a stronger defense that wouldn’t let the Hawks even attempt to score. During the fourth quarter, the Hawks only scored two points with a final score of 79 to 39 with the Rebels taking home the win.
Written by
Beth Farrar, SMT Writer
On Friday night, the Bloomfield Wildcats overtook the Puxico Indians by only five points. The game was played at Bloomfield and both teams have been doing fairly well this season with both wins and losses. The final score of the night’s game was 67 to 62, with the Wildcats defending their home court.
During the first quarter, the Wildcats took the lead. Senior Caleb Baker (#2) made four out of four free throws for the Wildcats when the game first began. The Wildcats sustained the lead but the Indians were trailing behind them in points. Both Zach Tucker and Austin Teichman from the Puxico team were leading the first quarter for their team with multiple layups. Baker scored a total of nine points for the Wildcats and with the help of his teammates and their layups, the Wildcats held the lead at the end of the first quarter by merely three points with the score of 19 to 16. In the first quarter, Bloomfield made 100% of their free throws while Puxico only made 50%.
When the second quarter started, the Wildcats took off running with the ball and got even further away from their opponents, slowly increasing their previous three point lead. Baker continued to lead in points for the Wildcats, making two layups and a three pointer with time ticking away. Senior Zac Goode, who trailed behind his teammate Baker in points, made both of his free throws and managed to get a three pointer past the Indian’s tight defense. The Indians continued to play defensively as Tucker managed to break through the wall of Wildcats and get multiple layups just as he did in the first quarter. The second quarter ended with the Wildcats gaining an even larger lead over their visitors, with a score of 34 to 26.
After the teams reassembled onto the court after half time, the Indians stepped up their game, with each of their players scoring many layups. Teichman led the Indians in the third quarter, scoring a total of six points, but he could not keep up with Goode, who scored a total of eight points for the Wildcats. The Wildcats did not have the chance to sink any free throws in the third quarter, but the Indians made 75% of their free throws, only scoring one point less than the Wildcats did in the third quarter. With the Wildcats scoring eighteen points and the Indians scoring 17, the score of the third quarter came to 52 to 43.
With nearly a ten point lead, the Wildcats entered the final quarter with high hopes while the Indians pushed harder and tried their best. Brett Ruch scored a total of eight points for the Wildcats. He scored all of his points during the final quarter through free throws, not missing a single one. He was followed in scoring by Baker and Thomas Sanders, who also made a number of free throws. The home team did not get past the Indians’ defense during the fourth quarter, forcing them to score all of their points through the free throws that they had made.
Teichman and Tucker scored a total of sixteen points by putting both of their efforts together. Although the Wildcats couldn’t break through the Indians’ defense, both Teichman and Tucker seemed to easily get four layups each, totaling at sixteen points. Their teammates, Jacob Plunkett and Josh Harp, also helped by tossing up a layup and making a three point shot.
The Puxico Indians played hard and seemed to shrink their opponents lead near the end of the final quarter but the Bloomfield Wildcats came out on top with a final score of 67 to 62 with a win on their own basketball court.
Written by
Beth Farrar, SMT Writer
While the high school wrestling is heating up, the elementary students from Dexter Elementary Schools and the surrounding areas have also been practicing their wrestling skills. The elementary students, both girls and boys, started practice on December 27th and have been competing in competitions nearly every Saturday in Dexter High School’s gymnasium.
The wrestling program is through the Elks, giving each of the younger kids a chance to get a feel for wrestling so they can do it later on in middle school and in high school. The wrestlers are divided up into four different teams (Gold, Blue, Red, and Green) which all have different coaches and a handful of older wrestlers who give tips and help with techniques during practices and competitions.
On Saturday mornings, the teams assemble at the gym and warm up on separate mats to prepare for the upcoming matches. Most of the young wrestles run laps, stretch, and practice techniques before jumping into the competition. Many parents and family members sit in the bleachers to cheer on their favorite little wrestler, making it a busy Saturday morning for many.
The coaches run two matches at a time on the center mats, which are both refereed by a few of the high school wrestlers that have volunteered their time to help during the matches and to offer a hand on the sidelines by keeping score. With four teams of about twenty kids, it takes a lot of helping hands to keep the competitions running smoothly.
Although the kids are all different ages, the brackets are based upon their weight classes. Some wrestlers that are alone in their weight class are put up against their teammates or bumped to the next class. Each match is based off of points received and whoever can pin their opponent. The matches are very similar to the high school matches but are shorter in length and have more restrictions for the wrestlers’ protection. There are multiple rounds that the wrestlers get to participate in but in each round is set up into segments so that each participant can wrestle and then rest while their teammates compete.
The competitions on Saturday mornings start around nine and last until eleven. After two hours of wrestling, there is an award ceremony where the top three wrestlers in each weight class are rewarded with a first, second, or third place ribbon. Each participant that is not in the top three also receive a ribbon.
Wrestling has become a big event in our area and it really shows through the size of the teams and the excitement on the kids’ faces as they enter the building to compete. The wrestlers learn from their coaches as well as their teammates and competition and as their season gets closer to an end, it is easy to see the progress that they are making from their practices.
The wrestling matches are both thrilling and fun to watch, making this event a great way to spend a Saturday morning.
Dexter, Missouri - Two of the powerhouse girls' teams in Southeast Missouri met on Monday night as the Dexter Lady Bearcats hosted the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs in a SEMO Conference match-up. Notre Dame came to Dexter with 16-3 record while our Lady Cats started the night at 17-2.
The game was not as close as most thought it would be as the Lady Cats won all four quarters on the way to the 74-42 victory. Notre Dame jumped out to their only lead of the night at 3 - 2, before the Dexter depth began to take over.
The victory was the second consecutive for Dexter, ranked #5 in the latest Missouri High School Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) poll.
Katelynn Frazier had an early basket, as did Erica Cobb, while Allison Jarrell had a three-pointer (one of 5 on the night on her way to 17 points). The post players then got in the act as Paige Patterson and Brittany Harris each had a basket to give the Cats a 12-7 lead. Mollie Whitehead then scored 4 of her 13 points on the end, late in the quarter to give the girls a 20-12 first quarter advantage.
An all around team effort with a number of kids scoring gave Lady Bearcats the 39-26 halftime lead.
Coach Allen and his team discussed stopping the dribble penetration of the Lady Bulldogs and the girls did just that in the second half to really open up the lead.
Hannah Noe and Katelynn Frazier from their guard spots did a great job of keeping the Notre Dame guards out of the lane in the second half. Brittany Harris had 10 of her game high 20 points in the third quarter as the Lady Cats put the game away.
The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Cats clamped down on the Notre Dame offense, as they allowed only 16 points in the second half and allowed only 40% shooting on the night.
The Dexter JV Bearcats moved to 8-0 on the season with its 44-27 victory. Both teams will be in action on Thursday night as they travel to Cape Central in another SEMO Conference match. Game time is 6:00 p.m.
DEXTER BEARCATS -- Mollie Whitehead 13, Katelynn Frazier 4, Hannah Noe 7, Melanie McKuin 2, Alison Jarell 17, Erika Cobb 6, Brittany Harris 20, Paige Patterson 5. FG 20, FT 13-17, F 16. (3-pointers: Jarell 5, Whitehead, Noe. Fouled out: None)
