Dexter, Missouri - For the third time this season the Dexter Bearcats faced the Bloomfield Wildcats in boys basketball. Dexter won the first two games, but #3 Bloomfield upset the #2 seed 60 - 55 in the semifinal game of the SCAA boys basketball tournament.
"They beat us twice already this season. It was a great win," commented Bloomfield head boys basketball coach Jason Karnes. "It's hard to beat a good team three times in a row. We are a good team and they are a good team. We kind of got a hot start at the beginning."
Bloomfield's Austin Bond came out strong in the first quarter hitting three buckets and one trey on his way to an 11 points ball game.
Noah Vandiver #33 recorded a team-high 15 points including three treys for the Wildcats.
“It’s hard to beat a good team three times in a row,” stated Bloomfield’s senior center Noah Vandiver. “And we are a good team.”
"We have had some good battles with Bloomfield this year," Dexter head basketball coach Josh Dowdy said. "I wish Coach Karnes and his kids the best of luck tomorrow night. They were just the better team tonight."
"Tonight Bloomfield played a more complete game then we did," continued Dowdy. "They out rebounded us, shot more free throws and overall just played harder."
Senior Bearcat Ethan Flowers had an amazing night with a total of five 3-pointers. He finished with a game-high 25 points. His biggest quarter came in the third when he scored 16 points.
"Ethan Flowers put us on his back tonight," stated Dowdy. "He worked so hard on both ends. You could tell he did not want to play for third tomorrow night."
“We had to foul because of Ethan Flowers. We just had to,” Karnes said. “He caught fire the second half and we couldn’t give them a chance to set up their play. As good as he was playing and scoring the ball that second half we just had to foul.”
Only four Dexter players scored during the game. Gabe Jackson recorded 16 points and was 4/6 at the charity stripe. Jason Jarrell #11 tallied 10 points all on two point buckets. Jacob Pedigo #21 contributed 4 points.
"We showed a lot of heart and determination in the second half to battle back and give ourselves a chance to win," Dowdy stated.
“We had to find a way to stay aggressive on the offensive end,” commented Karnes. “We thought the first two times we played them we just weren’t very aggressive.”
Final Score Dexter 55, Bloomfield 60
Dexter 14 7 21 13 - 55
Bloomfield 22 9 16 13 - 60
Dexter (55) - Jason Jarrell 10, Jacob Pedigo 4, Ethan Flowers 25, Gabe Jackson 16. FG 22,FT 6/11, F 15. (3-pointers: Ethan Flowers 5, Fouled Out: None).
Bloomfield (60) - Tim Hector 7, Peyton Bell 8, Nathan Newell 6, Austin Bond 11, Tyler Battles 7, Noah Vandiver 15. FG 21, FT 12/15, F 13. (3-pointers: Tim Hector 1, Austin Bond 1, Tyler Battles 1, Noah Vandiver 3. Fouled Out: None).
#3 seeded Bloomfield (16-3) moves on to the SCAA Championship game against the #1 seeded Woodland Cardinals on Friday evening. The Cardinals have never won a SCAA championship game. For Bloomfield it’s been about 17 years since they took home a trophy and a title. Both want the same thing, but only one can come out with a win! Game time is 8:30 p.m.
Dexter varsity will play Advance for 3rd place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
Photo credit to Dee Loflin, ShowMe Times manager/editor.
