Dexter, Missouri – Archrival Richland Rebels journeyed into the land of the Bearcats on Friday evening hoping for another win, but were disappointed.  Dexter’s varsity boys basketball team conquered the Rebels and earned their first win of the 2014 season defeating Richland 75 – 40 at the Bearcat Event Center.

“We have played five real good basketball teams in the SEMO Conference and tried to control the ball against them, but tonight we were going to let the kids play free and run up and down the floor,” commented Dexter boys head basketball coach Josh Dowdy.  “It seems like the kids enjoyed doing it and I think we hit five 3-pointers early.”

Austin Chesser was the man to beat earning him a game-high 26 points and hitting three treys in the first quarter. 

“Chesser seemed real comfortable in the offense,” stated Dowdy. “We will keep pushing him when we can.  We just don’t want to play keep away all year long.”

Dexter dominated Richland throughout the game leading 36 – 12 at the end of the first period.

“The first half when we were able to press them we caused them problems,” Dowdy said.  “We talked at halftime about how we could get better and the kids were like ‘I think man to man’.  We struggle guarding man to man so we came out and tried to play man and we actually didn’t do very well to be quite honest.  But we are just trying to grow, get better every day and challenge ourselves in every facet of the game.”

Skyler Harper led the Richland Rebels with a team-high 15 points.  Preston Tilley hit three treys and tallied 11 points.  Josh Thornton scored one 3-pointer and finished with 9 points.

“It was nice to go to in the locker-room and see the kids smile,” Dowdy said.  “We have worked all summer long and these kids have done about everything I have asked them to do with our 25 contact days from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.  They deserved this victory tonight.  The kids can go home, not have to come back to school on Monday and enjoy this!”

Jason Jarrell tallied 19 points against the Rebels.  Jacob Pedigo tallied 14 points.  Peyton Pollock hit two treys and scored 8 points.

Dexter  (1-5) will be back in action when they travel to Bloomfield for the Annual Christmas Tournament slated to begin Friday, December 26^th.  Dexter has the #6 seed and will play #11 seed Portageville at 5:00 p.m.

Richland (2-4) is also scheduled to appear in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.  They are seeded #16 and will play the #1 seed Hayti at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning.

Final Score Dexter 75, Richland 40

Richland 12    9   11   8  -  40

Dexter     36  16   14   9  -  75

Richland (40) – Marcus Grayson 9, Skyler Harper 15, Preston Tilley 11, Josh Thornton 5.  FG 25, FT 1/5, F 14. (3-pointers: Tilley 3, Grayson 1.  Fouled Out: None)

Dexter (75) – Noah Kronk 3, Jason Jarrell 19, Peyton Pollock 8, Jacob Pedigo 14, Austin Chesser 26, Matt Sims 2, Gabe Jackson 3.  FG 30, FT 9/16, F 11 (3-pointers: Chesser 3, Pollock 2, Jarrell1.  Fouled Out: None)