Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Bearcats boys basketball team won their 8th straight game defeating rival Puxico Indians with five double-digit scorers to a dominating 75-45 win on Tuesday evening.
"It was a good win for us," stated Dexter coach Josh Dowdy. "We came in here against a Puxico team with a couple nice players and we were wanting to neutralize those guys from a defensive stand point. I feel like we got that job done."
Levi Woods proved to be Puxico's top player as he is their primary scorer, but was held scoreless in the first half and only three points the entire game.
"Levi scored almost 90 points in three games at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament," Dowdy said. "We felt like if we could take him away it would make them do some things they are not used to doing on offense. Hats off to Clay Mullins, Ben Sindle, and Dawson Kasting. We had to throw about everyone we had on the bench at them."
Dexter led 42 -17 at the half.
"They played zone in the first quarter and we got off to a slow start, but we picked it up," continued Dowdy. "They switched to man and we ran our stuff real well. We mixed a bunch of kids in the game tonight and were still able to run our offense real well. That was neat to see."
Puxico rallied in the third quarter had the Indians within 22 points, but a comeback was not in the cards.
Dexter scored seven straight points at the beginning of the fourth quarter to push their lead by 29 points.
Matt Bollinger led Puxico with 16 points. Dalton King recorded 14 points. Levi Woods, Shane Haynes, and Braiden Jones each contributed one 3-pointer each.
Junior Gabe Jackson and Ben Sindle finished with game-high 18 points each with Jackson recording 13 rebounds.
Sindle recorded all his points on six treys.
Jason Jarrell tallied 14 points, Clay Mullins and Dawson Kasting added 10 points each.
Dexter (10-5) on the season will face Puxico again in the first round of the SCAA Tournament on Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the Bloomfield High School gym. Dexter earned the #2 seed while Puxico received the #7 seed.
On Friday, Dexter will travel to New Madrid County Central high school. The Bearcats fell to NMCC 50-36 in the SEMO Conference Tournament at Sikeston early in the season.
"I want to think we are a better team now than we were at that time," stated Dowdy. "We need to go down there and play well. I told the kids this game was a big test to get us ready for Friday."
Final Score Dexter 75, Puxico 45
Puxico 10 7 10 18 - 45
Dexter 16 26 14 19 - 75
Puxico (45) - Levi Woods 3, Shane Haynes 3, Braiden Jones 5, Dalton King 14, Brady Hart 2, Brent Geohagan 2, Matt Bollinger 16. FG 21, FT 0/0, F 12. (3-pointers: Woods 1, Haynes 1, Jones 1. Fouled Out: None).
Dexter (75) - Jason Jarrell 14, Ben Sindle 18, Clay Mullins 10, Dawson Kasting 10, Ryan Mayo 3, Chad Smith 3, Gabe Jackson 18. FG 31, FT 7/11, F 8. (3-pointers: Sindle 6. Fouled Out: None).
