Columbia, Missouri - The Dexter Lady Bearcats battled through some adversity today to defeat the Carl Junction Bulldogs by a score of 47 - 38. The Class 4A Third Place MSHSAA Championship game was every bit the battle that was anticipated in pre-game. From the full court press, to the half court trap and toss in a lot of physical play inside the paint area, this game was a battle all over the court for the full 32 minutes. The game was riddled with fouls and tough physical play by both teams.
The Lady 'Cats normally hold their own in the height category, but they were up against a well matched Carl Junction team with a 6' 0", a 6' 1" and two 6' 2" Lady Bulldogs on the opposing side. But that didn't intimidate the Bearcats of Dexter as Krysten Garrison, Hannah Thurmon and Rylee Allen had superb games banging and bumping in the middle with Carl Junction's #42 Megan Scott and #15 Alex Vogt.
Shooting percentage was a struggle for both teams during the game. Carl Junction ended the game with 10 for 54 (18.5%) on field goals and only 1 of 12 (8.3%) on 3-pointers. The Lady 'Cats were 33.3% on field goals and 14.3% overall from 3-point land.
"I thought we came out and and played a good game. Defensively we played well and put some pressure on them." commented Dexter head basketball coach Chad Allen.
"It feels great to end the season with a win and it may not be the way we wanted to go out with a 3rd place win but it was a good win and I am very proud of the girls." continued Allen.
Chaylea Mosby got things started with quickly in the first quarter as she was able to get the tip-off and take it down for a layup. Both teams battled to get into their game, ending the first quarter with a three-point lead in favor of the Bearcats, as Megan Trout took the ball coast to coast after a steal.
The Bearcats made their run in the second quarter with a great showing by Krysten Garrison and Chaylea Mosby. The LBB 'Cats were able to open up an 22 to 9 lead over the Bulldogs at the 5 minute mark of the second quarter. Coach Allen always comments that "basketball is a game of runs" and that run proved to be the difference in the outcome of this game. The Bearcats were able to maintain that going in at halftime 26 - 17.
Second half action tossed a little change in the original game plan of the 'Cats. At the midpoint of the quarter, Chaylea Mosby received a ankle injury on a charge call that sent her to the Bearcat bench. A daze seemed to come over the Lady 'Cats for a few minutes in the game but Kristen Garrison, Harley Allen and stepped up their leadership on the court to maintain the composure of the team.
A long drawn out second half filled with high pressure all over the court by the Carl Junction team forced the Bearcats to be extra cautious in taking care of the basketball. Harley Allen and Natalie Sitze found themselves surrounded throughout the quarter in a strong trap defense that was effective against the Bearcats. Rylee Allen had a game to remember inside as she played incredible defense to deny the Bulldogs any easy buckets in the paint.
Offensively, junior Krysten Garrison got hot in the third quarter as some key moments on her way to a game high of 21 points.
Senior Harley Allen proved her team leadership as she went to the line late in the game to make some crucial free throws.
Sophomore Chaylea Mosby ends the season with 110 total 3-pointers adding her name as the 6th All-Time Missouri State 3-Point Shots made in a single season.
"It is nice to win and making my last game winning up here feels great," state senior Cheyenne Mosby.
"It feels great to get this win," commented senior Harley Allen.
Final Score Dexter 47, Carl Junction 38
Dexter 10 16 9 12 - 47
Carl Junction 7 10 11 10 - 38
Dexter (47) - Natalie Sitze 2, Hannah Thurmon 5, Krysten Garrison 21, Harley Allen 4, Chaylea Mosby 11, Rylee Allen 2, Megan Trout 2, FG 15, FT 19/34, (3-pointers: Chaylea Mosby 2, Fouled Out: None)
Carl Junction (38) - Emma Frack 3, Dani Wrensch, Alex Vogt, Katie Scott 15, Lauren Walker 4, FG 11, FT 17/23 (3-pointers: Emma Frack 1, Fouled Out: None)
Columbia, Missouri - The Dexter Lady 'Cats will be waking up this morning with a little fire to get back to the court after last night's loss to the St. Pius Warriors 59 - 34. Today's game could be noted as the Class 4 State Championship for public schools as opposed to Saturday's game between the two private school powerhouse teams.
Carl Junction (27-3) suffered a tough loss to Incarnate Word last night by a score of 47 - 24. The Bearcats, with a 22 - 9 season record, are focused on ending on a good note. This is the third attempt for the Bearcats in the consolation bracket and they have settled for 4th place in both previous attempts.
Carl Junction is located in Jasper County in the Southwest part of Missouri with an enrollment of 1,006 students, compared to Dexter's 633 students. The Lady Bulldogs have two strong weapons in 6' 1" senior Alex Vogt with 13.4 points per game average and 6' 2" junior Megan Scott with 11.4 points per game average. Vogt is shooting 57% from the field and is a strong inside force for the Lady Bulldogs. Carl Junction is not quite the strong outside shooting team with only one strong threat from the outside, Emma Frack, with 44 three-pointers on the year with a 32% three-point percentage.
This contrasts to the Lady Bearcat's total of 203 three-point shots on the year, led by Chaylea Mosby's amazing 108 made three pointers at a 47% rate. As of today, Mosby is tied for 8th place in the All-Time History of Missouri Lady's Basketball for 3-Point shots made in a season. Harley Allen has dumped in her share of 3-point baskets with 39 for the season, which is second on the team, followed by Sitze with 26 three-pointers made.
Dexter is a well-rounded team with strong stats in all areas of the game. Natalie Sitze has 110 assists on the season followed by Mosby with 74 and Hannah Thurmon with 53 assists. Thurmon's mark on assists is a strong stat considering she is one of the Bearcat's post players.
Thurmon also leads the Lady 'Cats in rebounding with 168 rebounds. Mosby is a close second with 131 followed by Rylee Allen off the bench with 104 rebounds. Two other notable "off-the-bench" players for the 'Cats are Maycie Martin and Megan Trout. Martin is currently 3rd on the team in field goal percentage making 52% of her shots and Megan Trout is that high energy defensive backup point guard that allows the LBB to never miss a beat when she enters the game.
Krysten Garrison has posted some incredible numbers coming off a major shoulder surgery at the beginning of the season with an solid 14.2 per game average on scoring, placing her as the second leading scorer on the team.
As you can see, the Dexter LBB is completely solid from starters to bench so they enter the game today in a good position to earn the 3rd place trophy. The Lady Bearcat program has an incredible group of coaches that has formed this tradition over the years. Head Coach Chad Allen enters the game with a carer winning record of 223 wins and 66 losses. His highly valued assistant coach Eric Sitze has a strong background leading the Boys's Basketball program to a final-four appearance in the early 2000's.
Game time is at 12:45 today from the MIZZOU Arena. Catch the action on the big screen at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall where they will again host a Lady Bearcat Watch Party beginning at noon on Friday!
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.
Columbia, Missouri - The Dexter Lady Bearcats will take on the St. Pius X Warriors out of Kansas City on Thursday, March 16, 2017 at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Dexter Lady Cats has a record of 22 - 8 and St. Pius X has a record of 25 - 3.
The winner will play in the Class 4 Championship on Saturday, March 18th at 4:30 p.m. The loser plays for third place at 12:45 p.m. on Friday at the Mizzou Arena.
The Lady Cats will make their 4th appearance at the Final Four. They finished 4th in 2009 and 2013 and second in 2014.
St. Pius X finished third in 2016 in Class 3 and was #7 in the final MBCA poll.
St. Pius X averages 54.4 points per game and Dexter averages 60.5 points per game.
Junior guard Antoinette Mussorici leads St. Pius averaging 15.6 points per game.
Sophomore guard Chaylea Mosby leads Dexter averaging 22 points per game.
Dexter, Missouri - There will be a lot of new faces this season for the Dexter Bearcats Tennis Team. Last year five seniors graduated. In the 2017 season two seniors are returning to the court.
"This should be a fun year," commented Dexter boys tennis coach Kurt Lovelady. "I have a lot of new athletes on varsity after graduating five seniors last year. Most of the boys put in a lot of work in the off season and it has shown in practice."
Zach Potts and Will Brehmer are the only two seniors on the team.
"Potts is returning this year. He went to State last year in doubles," continued Lovelady. "He came up one win short of placing and getting medal."
"He is a tremendous worker and goes hard during practice," Lovelady said of Potts. "This will be his fourth year on varsity and hopefully he can improve upon his run to State last year."
"Brehmer has worked hard in the off season as well and has moved up this year to an upper varsity spot," stated Lovelady. "Will's ground strokes have improved a lot so far this season."
Dexter will open their 2017 season on the road at Poplar Bluff on Thursday, March 23rd. Match time 4:00 p.m. Their first home match will be Wednesday, March 29th at 4:00 p.m. against Cape Central.
The Dexter boys tennis team will compete in Class 1, District 1 against Arcadia Valley, North County High School, Notre Dame and Sikeston.
They will compete in three tournaments this year. The Poplar Bluff Tournament will be held on Saturday, April 1st. The Cape Central Tournament will be held on Friday, April 7th and the Famington Tournament will be held on Friday, April 28th.
"Each tournament will have a different layout (singles, doubles, mixed)," Lovelady said. "I hope the team will be contending for the Championship in each this season."
2017 Dexter Boys Tennis Team Schedule
3/23/2017 4:00 PM @ Poplar Bluff
3/28/2017 4:00 PM @ Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau)
3/29/2017 4:00 PM Central (Cape Girardeau)
4/4/2017 4:00 PM Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau)
4/6/2017 4:00 PM Poplar Bluff
4/24/2017 4:00 PM @ Central (Cape Girardeau)
4/26/2017 4:00 PM @ Sikeston
4/27/2017 4:00 PM Arcadia Valley
5/2/2017 4:00 PM Sikeston
5/3/2017 4:00 PM @ Arcadia Valley
Shown in the photo are Front Row from Left to Right: Blake Bolin, Will Brehmer, Zach Potts, and Nate Gargas. Middle Row from Left to Right: Tyler Robinson, Matthew Chesser, Travis Propst, and Eric Hahn. Back Row from Left to Right: Eric Allen, Wyatt Parker, Logan Wyman, and Tres Hampton.
