Columbia, Missouri - The High School Basketball Final Four is an incredible tradition that is laced with pride and accomplishment. The Lady Bearcats of Dexter entered tonight's game with a record of 22 - 8 to face the Warriors of St. Pius X High School with a record of 24 - 5. Every team that makes that long trek to Columbia has one thing in common - every single team has worked hard and filled with talented athletes. Many times, the outcome of the games comes down to who gets the quicker start.
The Lady 'Cats found tonight's game to be one of those tough starts as the St. Pius X Warriors racked up 17 unanswered points in the beginning of the first quarter. St. Pius X was on fire as the Warriors spread the scoring out among their starting lineup.
Dexter junior Krysten Garrison was able to drop in a bucket with just 42 second left in the first quarter to make the score 2 - 17.
"As a first time experience," commented Dexter head coach Chad Allen, "The girls simply came out a little tight too start the game and dug a big hole too much to over come."
In the second quarter, Bearcat sophomore Chaylea Mosby got things rolling with a lay-up followed by a 3-point shot early. Natalie Sitze followed with a breakaway lay-up to close the gap to 9 midway through the second quarter. Hannah Thurman put in a inside shot making it a 7-point game until the Warriors regrouped and went on a 4-point run to close the half out with a lead over the Lady Cats 26 - 15.
"Basketball is a game of runs," added Coach Allen. "Every time we'd make a run trying to dig out of that 1st quarter, they would respond with a run of their own."
Dexter closed the game in the 3rd quarter with the 3-point shooting of Chaylea Mosby. Again, the Warriors responded with a run of their own closing out the quarter with a Lady Cats behind by 10. The 'Cats were outscored in the fourth quarter 21 to 6 making the final score of tonight's semifinal game 59 - 34.
Chaylea Mosby lead all Bearcat scorers with 17-points. She was followed with Krysten Garrison with 8, Hannah Thurman with 6, Natalie Sitze with 2 and Rylee Allen with 1-point.
Final Score Dexter 34, St. Pius X 59
Dexter 2 13 13 6 34
St. Pius X 17 9 12 21 59
Dexter (34) - Krysten Garrison 8, Natalie Sitze 2, Hannah Thurmon 6, Chaylea Mosby 17, Rylee Allen 1. FG 14, FT 4/7, (3-pointers: Chaylea Mosby 2, Fouled Out: None)
St. Pius X (59) - Antoinett Mussorici 9, Abby Hipp 21, Natalie Denzer 13, Amanda Hayes 1, Hannah Simone 4, Alaina Malott 7, Kathrynne Taylor 2, Lexi Chirpich 2. FG 23, FT 10/12 (3-pointers: Mussorici 1, Hipp 1, Denzer 1, Fouled Out: None)
Dexter will play for 3rd place at the Mizzou Arena at 12:45 p.m. on Friday.
