Sikeston, Missouri - It was a 6-PEAT for the Dexter Lady Bearcats, their sixth straight District Championship!

Sikeston’s Tyra Bonner hit a 3-pointer to tie things up 40-40 with 37 seconds remaining in the game.  The Lady Bulldogs got the steal at half court and tried to call a timeout, but they were out of timeouts, which earned them a technical foul.

Chaylea Mosby hit one of her two free throw attempts putting Dexter up by one, 41-40.  Dakota Reynolds followed by making both free throws securing the victory for the Lady Cats 42-40.

“I was pretty nervous, but we have been practicing our free throws all year,” commented Dakota Reynolds.  “So I was pretty confident in myself that I was going to make them.”

Sikeston led 11-5 and 13-7 in the opening quarters of district play.  Dexter held the Lady Bulldogs to just 2 points in the second period helping the Bearcats move ahead 20-15 at the half.

“Sikeston has improved so much these last couple of year and Coach Schonhoff has done an unbelievable job with them,” commented Dexter coach Chad Allen.  “To escape out of here with a win tonight is huge.  We got down early, fought back, got the lead and kept the lead the whole game.  A lot of that had to do with our girls getting out and guarding tonight.  I thought we did a much better job defensively against Sikeston tonight than we did last week.”

“Sikeston came out hot,” continued Allen.  “They hit a lot of 3’s and got a pretty good lead.  Defensively, we did an outstanding job that second quarter.  I think they only scored two points.  To shut them down that second quarter was huge for us to get the momentum back, and after that we just kept the momentum.”

Krysten Garrison tallied a game-high 20 points on nine field goals and two free throws for Dexter.

“The wings really got the ball into me and looked for me,” Garrison said.  “I was ready for the challenge and really wanted them to get the ball into me because I knew I could put some points up for us.”

Freshman Lady Cat Chaylea Mosby recorded double digits with 11 points.

“We just kept being aggressive and attacking and got to the rim,’ Mosby said.

Sikeston finished their season with a record of 22-5 and will graduate six of their thirteen players on the varsity roster.

Dexter avenges the 74-66 loss they suffered to Sikeston at the Bearcat Event Center.

“It’s definitely our toughest,” Reynolds said of the District Championship.  “Sikeston is quick and a pretty good team.  I’ll give them that.  They have come a long way since last year and they are well-coached.”

The Lady Cats (22-5) will play Fredericktown (18-9) in the Class 4 Sectional on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at the Jackson High School.  Game time 6:00 p.m. 

“They used to be on our schedule and we played them in a district championship game, I think my first year at Dexter,” Allen said.  “They have definitely gotten better these last couple years, and it’s going to be another tough game for us.  We will have to spend some time getting prepared for them.  We haven’t seen them a whole lot so hopefully we can bring down some game film and get ready for them.”

Final Score #1 Dexter 43, #2 Sikeston 40

Dexter        9  11  11  12  - 43

Sikeston  13    2   13  12  -  40

Dexter (43) - Dakota Reynolds 5, Melanie McKuin 2, Cheyenne Mosby 5, Krysten Garrison 20, Chaylea Mosby 11.  FG 15, FT 9/16, F 8. (3-pointers: Dakota Reynolds 1, Cheyenne Mosby 1.  Fouled Out: None)

Sikeston (40) - Kiera Steward 6, Tyra Bonner 9, Larysa McClellon 2, Erica Peet 2, Miranda Harrison 8, Tyeshia Mitchell 13. FG 14, FT 5/9, F 15.  (3-pointers: Tyra Bonner 3, Kiera Steward 2, Miranda Harrison 2.  Fouled out: None)

Also a special note:  This was Coach Chad Allen's 200th career win tonight!