Dexter, Missouri - Dexter senior Hannah Thurmon signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Three Rivers College on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, at the Bearcat Event Center.

Thurmon will play the #3 position and she will wear the same jersey number her dad, Matt, played in when he attend TRC, the #23.  Hannah also used that number when she played basketball earlier in her grade school and middle school days on the court.

"We have been watching her really since her sophomore year in high school," commented Three Rivers College lady Raiders head coach Jeff Walk.  "Last year was impressive the way she played.  Excellent skill set. I knew what kind of lady she was off the court as well."

Thurmon has had impressive stats throughout her career at Dexter High School.  "Hannah was my point guard her 8th grade year and that really benefited us throughout her high school career," commented Chad Allen, Dexter High School Lady Bearcats head coach.  "Getting those skills at an early age was really helpfull. Her height and length does a good job for us as well."

As a freshman she earned All-Conference and All-District Basketball awards.  Her sophomore year she was again All-Conference and All-District and All-State Honorable Mention in Volleyball; however due to an injury did not play in basketball season.  

Hannah was All-Conference and All-District in basketball her junior year, but was injured and did not play volleyball last year.

As a senior she has already accomplished a great deal during the 2017 volleyball season. She earned All-Conference, All-District and All-State.  She was Hitter of the Year and Blocker of the Year and in the SEMO Conference was Co-Player of the Year in volleyball.  Her basketball season just started and the Lady Cats are already making headlines.

What made Hannah choose Three Rivers College? "It's close to home and when I toured it I really liked being there," commented Thurmon.  "I hope to earn a degree in Nursing."  Her favorite memory in basketball was going to the Final Four State Play-offs in Columbia her junior year.

"Hannah is one that shoots well from the perimeter and can score on the inside and outside," stated Allen.  "She also guards well off the ball and on the ball. She makes a lot of shots and is highly skilled.  Three Rivers is getting a good player."

"It is a great spot for her at TRC," continued Allen.  "Staying close to home it allows her parents and others to watch her play.  I can go see her as well.  It will be a great place and their program has greatly improved so she will get a lot of playing time.  Coach Walk even coached her dad, Matt, several years ago."

Hannah is the daughter of Matt and Mindy Thurmon.  She also has a sister named Chloe who attend Dexter High School.

Her grandparents include Lloyd and Jeanne Bell of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Elaine Thurmon of Broseley, Missouri. 

She is active in Future Business Leaders of America, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Sr. Beta Club, and Pep Club. 

She has played travel basketball and volleyball and is a member of First Baptist Church. 

Pictured with Thurmon are, front row from left, Matt Thurmon, Thurmon, Mindy Thurmon and Chloe Thurmon. Back row from left, TRC coach Jeff Walk, Dexter girls assistant coach Eric Sitze, Dexter Athletic Director Aaron Pixley and TRC assistant Alex Wiggs.

Side-note:  In the very first article that was written about Hannah Thurmon on the ShowMe Times back in 2012 was a game she played in 7th grade basketball at T.S. Hill Middle School.  "In the 7th grade game Hannah Thurmon led all scorers with an impressive 28 points on the night."  It was a game against the Cape Central Tiger.  We were impressed with her abilities then and are still amazed at seeing this young lady's talents.  We are proud of the amazing young woman she has become!  Congratulations Hannah!

Broseley, Missouri - The 2017 Lady Royals Christmas Classic Tournament seedings have been released.  The 16-team varsity girls basketball tournament is set to take place on Saturday, December 16th, Monday, December 18th, Tuesday, December 19th, Thursday, December 21st and Friday, December 22nd at Twin Rivers High School in Broseley.

Lady Bearcats of Dexter have received the #1 seed.  They will play the #16 seeded East Carter County in a first round contest at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 16th.

Seeds are #1 Dexter, #2 Neelyville, #3 Twin Rivers, #4 Naylor, #5 Chaffee, #6 New Madrid County Central, #7 Doniphan, #8 Portageville, #9 Kennett, #10 Greenville, #11 Charleston, #12 Clearwater, #13 Kelly, #14 Malden, #15 Campbell, and #16 East Carter County.

Saturday games are:

9:00 a.m. Dexter vs East Carter County

10:00 a.m. Kennett vs Portageville

11:30 a.m. Chaffee vs Clearwater

1:00 p.m. Neelyville vs Campbell

2:30 p.m. New Madrid County Central vs Charleston

4:00 p.m. Twin Rivers vs Malden

5:30 p.m. Doniphan vs Greenville

7:00 p.m. Naylor vs Kelly

Consolation quarterfinals are Monday, December 18th, Championship quarterfinals are Tuesday, December 19th, Semifinals are Thursday, December 21st, and Championship games are Friday, December 22nd.

Sikeston, Missouri - For the first time the Dexter Bearcats boys basketball team secured a spot in the semifinal game of the SEMO Conference Tournament held at Sikeston.  They battled aginst the Notre Dame Bulldogs, but felt short 69-64. 

The #6 seeded Notre Dame Bulldogs will face the #1 seeded Sikeston Bulldogs in the Championship game at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, December 8, 2017.

The Bearcats fought all the way to the end cutting Notre Dame's lead to 62-60 with a little over one minute left in the game.

Senior Clay Mullins scored a game-high 21 points and added five assists and five rebounds.

Senior Ben Sindle tallied 17 points including 5 treys.

Gabe Jackson and Alan Pippins each added 9 points.  Pippen's points came on 3-pointers.

"Mullins did a good job of attacking their matchup," commented Dexter head coach Josh Dowdy.  "Sindle and Pippins stepped up and hit some bigs shot."

"We just did not do enough on the defensive end to win against a quality team like Notre Dame," continued Dowdy.  "We scored 64 points tonight and typically that is enough for us to win a basketball game."

Dawson Dohogne and Kam Dohogne added the bulk of Notre Dame's points scoring 18 and 11 respectively.  Ad Braden Noel's 14 points and you have three great scoring athletes.

"Notre Dame shot the ball well, but that had a lot to do with our defensive intensity," continued Dowdy.  "We can do better than what we showed tonight."

Dexter will face Cape Central in the 3rd Place game on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Sikeston Field House.

"This is a good change for us playing at the end of the week of the SEMO Conference Tournament.  Typically our boys are running around with one another or their girlfriends," stated Dowdy.  "I am glad we are at Sikeston instead tonight!"

Final Score Dexter 64, Notre Dame 69

Dexter          13   17   15   19  -  64

Notre Dame   6   18   13   22  -  69

Dexter (64) - Seth Rogers 4, Alan Pippins 9, Ben Sindle 17, Clay Mullins 21, Dawson Kasting 4, Gabe Jackson 9.  FG 23, FT 10/16, F 10. )3-pointers: Ben Sindle 5, Alan Pippins 3. Fouled Out: None).

Notre Dame (69) - Kam Dohogne 11, Tyler Landewee 9, Jack Floyd 11, Braden Noel 14, Tyler Parker 6, Dawson Dohogne 18.  FG 28, FT 4/7, F 18. (3-pointers: Jack Floyd 3, Brandon Noel 2, Kam Dohogne 2, Dawson Dohogne 1, Tyler Landewee 1.  Fouled Out: None).

Sikeston, Missouri - With fans on their feet in the final seconds of the biggest upset in the SEMO Conference Tournament history, the #7 seeded Dexter Bearcats finally upset the #2 Charleston Bluejays in a thriller game.  It was the first time since its inception in 2006 that the 'Cats have advanced to the semifinals. Final score 59-54!

It was also the Bearcats' first win over Charleston since 2004.

Dexter scored the game's first eight points and never trailed throughout.  They were able to slow the game down and methodically take care of the ball and run their own offense.

"Tonight they received a well deserved win," said Coach Josh Dowdy of the Dexter Bearcats.  "I thought we showed a lot of fight tonight.  I will not forget the smiles in that locker room tonight! We understand it is just a first round win of a tournament but for our program it is a HUGE WIN!!!"

"We have practiced real well this year.  The boys are trying to do what we ask of them each day," continued Dowdy. "In fact, there are times I feel like we are pushing them to their limit. They just keep coming back for more. We are just trying to convince them that whatever they put in is usually what they will get back." 

Dexter senior Gabe Jackson scored a game-high 19 points.  Jackson was instrumental inside and made the biggest impact setting the tone on just how the 'Cats wanted to physically attack the Blue Jays man-to-man defense. 

"Gabe was real good tonight.  He has played fine this year, but tonight was a monster effort," stated Dowdy. "He grabbed rebounds, loose balls, and just played more physical tonight. Gabe will have to continue to give us those kind of minutes for us to compete with the best teams around here." 

Seniors Ben Sindle and Clay Mullins each added 11 for the Bearcats.

"Clay Mullins continues to play real well. We are asking him to do so much for our team and he has been terrific," continued Dowdy. "He handles the ball and he stepped up and took a big charge that I felt was one of the highlights of the game.  He is playing with more toughness this season!"

Sindle sank a trey just under 4 minutes left in the game to give Dexter their largest lead of the night 47-36.  Nine of the next ten points came from the charity stripe where Dexter shot 8 for 10 and Charleston 4 for 6.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Charleston brought them within 3 points and that were it got a little scary for the Dexter Bearcats.  Many fans were on their feet holding their breath or just praying that they could hold on for the win.  With just 20 seconds left in the game Charleston closed the gap to just 2 points, but the Bearcats would not give up and it was Sindle and Alan Pippins who finished the final 10 seconds perfect from the free throw line going four for four. Free throws definitely made a difference in the 4th quarter. Dexter shot 15 for 18 in the last period and was 17 for 22 in all.

"We really focused on stopping their transition game tonight," Dowdy said of Charleston's efforts.  "In game one, they outscored us by 20 points in transition. Our defensive effort especially in the first three quarters was good tonight.  We had a lot of help off the bench tonight due to foul trouble. Braxton was real good. He came up with some key loose balls and held his own guarding Clark. Our free throws down the stretch helped us to keep the lead and nail down a victory."

Dexter will play in the SEMO Conference Boys Basketball Tournament semifinal for the first time in the school's history.  They will compete against the #6 seed Notre Dame who upset the #3 seeded Jackson Indians just prior to the Bearcats' performance on Monday evening.  Game will be on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

"Playing on a Thursday this week is new for us," commented Dowdy.  "We will practice hard over the next two days and see if we can come over here and compete like we did tonight.  I will be surprised if this group doesn’t lay their heart on the line again."

Final Score Dexter 59, Charleston 54

Dexter       16    10   7   26  -  59

Charleston   6   15   8   25  -  54