Bernie, Missouri - The Bearcats did not fear the superstitious Friday the 13th traveling to the Mule Barn on Friday night to take SCAA rival Bernie. The Dexter varsity boys basketball team beat the Bernie Mules 62 - 59.
"Tonight was a typical Bernie/Dexter game. You know when these two teams get on the floor with one another that you might as well throw the records out the window because you know it is going to a battle," commented Dexter boys basketball coach Josh Dowdy. "Tonight was no different. We feel very fortunate that we are going to walk out of here with a victory."
The Bearcats were in control the first three quarters, but Nate Dillinger's massive 19-point effort in the fourth quarter kept Bernie within striking distance of a victory.
Dillinger his a two free throws with a little over 5 1/2 minutes left to play giving the Mules their first lead since the opening seconds of the game 45 - 44. He tallied a game-high 31 points and scored the final 16 points of the game for the Mules. He also hit three of eight treys attempted and had nine rebounds.
"Nate Dillinger was terrific," commented Dexter's Coach Dowdy. "We mixed our defenses all night long and to be honest none of them really slowed him down. He has a special knack of putting the ball in the hole for Bernie."
Weston Comstock contributed 11 points for the Mules while Dalton Hobgood finished with 8 points.
Jayce Burk and Hobgood recorded two 3-pointers. Alex Guzman had one trey and Dillinger tallied three treys.
"I am not one to take moral victories, but I thought our kids competed their butts off tonight," commented Bernie boys basketball coach Brad Botsch. "Dexter is a really good basketball team and is very well-coached. Our kids had to really dig deep to compete with them and I thought we did that."
"We hope to build on the positive aspects of this game and apply it to upcoming games," continued Botsch. "Even though we didn't come out on top, I am really proud of our team tonight."
Dexter's Clay Mullins, Gabe Jackson, Jason Jarrell and Ben Sindle all finished in double digits.
Junior Clay Mullins tallied a team-high 15 points. Gabe Jackson also a junior tallied 13 points and Ben Sindle another junior Bearcat recorded 10 points. Senior Jason Jarrell tallied 12 points.
Alan Pippins recorded two 3-pointers. Sindle hit two treys and Mullins finished with one 3-pointer for Dexter.
"We had four guys in double figures again tonight," stated Dowdy. "When you get contributions from 4 of 5 guys, it makes our team more difficult to guard."
"Bernie played a combination defense throughout the game that did throw our kids off balance, but I felt like we made some good plays to counter what they were trying to do," continued Dowdy. "Coach Botsch and Coach Long had their kids ready to play tonight and they were very well prepared. I thought both teams played a real hard. It was a hard fought high school basketball game. A good game to be a part of, but I am glad we don't have to play again tomorrow."
Final Score Bernie 59, Dexter 62
Bernie 13 12 12 21 - 59
Dexter 18 11 15 18 - 62
Bernie (59) - Jayce Burk 6, Alex Guzman 3, Weston Comstock 11, Nate Dillinger 31, Dalton Hobgood 8. FG 20, FT 11/16, F 17. (3-pointers: Jayce Burk 2, Alex Guzman 1, Nate Dillinger 3, Dalton Hobgood 2. Fouled Out: None).
Dexter (62) - Jason Jarrell 12, Alan Pippins 6, Ben Sindle 10, Clay Mullins 15, Ryan Mayo 6, Gabe Jackson 13. FT 25, FT 6/17, F 13. (3-pointers: Alan Pippins 2, Ben Sindle 3, Clay Mullins 1. Fouled Out: None).
"I was real proud of how our guys competed tonight," stated Dowdy. "It was not the prettiest game we have played this season, but when the opposition plays that hard it is not going to be."
Bernie (7-8) will host the Bloomfield Wildcats on Tuesday, January 17th in another SCAA rival game. Game time 6:00 p.m.
Dexter is now (9-5) overall and (3-0) in the Stoddard County Activities Association (SCAA) play. They will play on Tuesday as well at the Bearcat Event Center against SCAA rival Puxico. Game time 6:00 p.m.
The SCAA Tournament seedings have been set. Games begin Monday, January 23, 2017. Article and brackets can be viewed at www.showmetimes.com under the heading SPORTS!
Stoddard County, Missouri - The 2017 SCAA Seedings for the Varsity Boys Basketball tournament were released this morning at 11:00 a.m.
The Advance Hornets received the #1 seed. Dexter received the #2 seed and Bloomfield received the #3 seed.
Bernie earned the #4 spot, Bell City #5, Woodland #6, Puxico #7, and Richland received the #8 seed.
On January 23rd #1 Advance will play #8 Richland at 5:30 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. #2 Dexter will play #7 Puxico at the Bloomfield high school gym.
On January 24th at 6:30 p.m. #3 Bloomfield will play #6 Woodland. At 8:00 p.m. #4 Bernie will play #5 Bell City at the Bloomfield high school gym.
The SCAA Junior Varsity Seeds were released as well.
Bernie received the #1 seed. Dexter received the #2 seed. Bloomfield received the #3 seed, followed by #4 Richland, #5 Puxico, #6 Woodland, and #7 Advance.
Bernie will have a Bye. On January 23rd At 4:00 p.m. Dexter JV play Advance JV. At 8:30 p.m. #4 Richland JV will play #5 Puxico JV.
On January 24th at 5:00 p.m. #3 Bloomfield JV plays #6 Woodland JV.
The Varsity semifinals will be played on January 26th at 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Championship will be January 27th at 8:30 p.m. Third place game will be at 5:30 p.m.
The Junior Varsity semifinals will be played on January 26th at 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Championship will be at 7:00 p.m. on January 27th and third place will be at 4:00 p.m. on the same day.
Kennett, Missouri - The Dexter Bearcats girls basketball team experienced little difficulty defeating the Kennett Lady Indians after a long winter nap of 18 days without a game.
Coach Chad Allen said with the cancellation of the Farmington game, the girls hadn't had a game since December 22, 2016. Though the girls put in some long 3-hour practices sometimes it's hard to comeback from being off so long, but the Lady Cats came out defensively early on and built a 40 - 11 lead at the half.
Probably one of the best defensive efforts Bearcat fans have seen all season.
"We were so active tonight on both ends tonight," commented head coach Chad Allen. "We shot the ball well too. Most importantly I think we created a lot off our defense. We had a lot of transition points and a lot of points on turn overs. When you can guard like that good things are going to happen offensively."
The fans also saw a little different defensive action by the Lady Cats against Kennett, a perhaps a new twist on defense.
"It's a little different for the girls. We call it a jackhammer," commented Allen. "It's not quite a straight 1-3-1 defense. The middle person has to cover and trap the corners and its an anticipater when the ball is up top. We keep our big around the basket and protect the rim and the middle person is trapping and reading passes. Its a great defense and we used it at Three Rivers and called it a Jackhamer as well."
You want someone long and athletic on top of it," continued Allen. "Hannah and Maycie are both long and athletic. Maycie can read so well. We also did a good job in the second half as well. It has given us a chance to use it and work on it and become successive running it."
Three Cats were in double figures. Sophomore Chaylea Mosby led with 16 points including three treys. Junior Hannah Thurmon recorded 11 and senior Cheyenne Mosby contributed 10 points. Lauren Davis tallied 9 points all on 3-pointers.
"She can flat out shoot it and if she has any space at all she will flat knock it down," stated Allen about Lauren's efforts. "She is doing great things for us and will get more playing time as the year continues."
"Neelyville It is going to be tough. If we can be this active like we were tonight we can do well" finished Allen.
Kennett's Dakayla Duckworth led the Indians with 11 points. Heidi Shetley finished with 9 points.
Final Score Dexter 68, Kennett 29
Dexter 16 24 18 10 - 68
Kennett 5 6 14 4 - 29
Dexter (68) - Maycie Martin 2, Rylee Allen 2, Natalie Sitze 7, Meghan Trout 5, Cheyenne Mosby 10, Hannah Thurmon 11, Harley Allen 6, Chaylea Mosby 16, Lauren Davis 9. FG 25, FT 8/9, F 14. (3-pointers: Lauren Davis 2, Chaylea Mosby 3, Harley Allen 2, Meghan Trout 1, Natalie Sitze 1. Fouled Out: None).
Kennett (29) - Anna Wheeler 2, Dakayla Duckworth 11, Hadley Hilburn 3, Tyneshia Wilson 2, Kayton Harris 2, Heidi Shetley 9. FG 12, FT 4/8, F 9. (3-pointers: Hadley Hilburn 1. Fouled Out: None).
Submitted Photo
