Bloomfield, Missouri - It’s a Cinderella story for the Dexter Bearcats. It wasn’t expected that the #8 seed would upset the #1 seed Bloomfield and the #5 seed Malden and continue their trek to the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament Championship game.
Dexter rained on Malden’s hope of a first place title on Tuesday evening beating them 65-50 in a highly spirited game.
Dexter’s win propels them to the Championship game for the first time since 2010. It was 2004 that Dexter won their last Christmas Tournament title.
“It’s cool for the community,” Dexter’s head boys basketball coach Josh Dowdy said. “We are going to be able to come out and play in a championship game. I am just so happy for these kids because we took our lumps early in the year. I try to find a way to pick them up, but I guess I don’t have the right words. But tonight, I just cannot keep the smiles off their faces. It’s good to see hard work pay-off.”
And smiling they were with powerhouse Gabe Jackson recorded 16 of his 20 points in the first half on 6 two-pointers and four points at the charity stripe. Dexter jumped out to a 16-point lead by half-time securing their run to biggest game of their season thus far.
"The kids really executed early in the game and we were trying to play-off Gabe Jackson," stated Dowdy. "Malden played a 2 -3 zone and comes after you. We were trying to isolate him down low and play off of him. I told Gabe If he felt like he had an advantage take it right at them, and if not, we could kick it out to our shooters”
“Malden played over the top and he had a lot of lob finishes. Gabe just keeps getting better each game. I have coached that boy since he was in the 7th grade and it is nice to see his progression year after year. It is fun, and I am so happy for him,” continued Dowdy.
Jason Jarrell tallied 19 points on 6 two-point baskets, one trey, and four free-throws for the Bearcats.
Ethan Flowers recorded 14 points including three treys for Dexter.
“Everything looks fine tuned,” stated Dowdy. “Coming in we wanted to shut down Ison, of course. He’s quite a threat and had a little size on us. Tyler Heil like last night did a tremendous job for us on that.”
Dexter will have a rematch of the 2010 Championship game when they take on the #2 seed Kennett Indians on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Kennett defeated Saxony Lutheran 54 - 47 in the other semifinal match on Tuesday
“Everything seems to be working well right now,” continued Dowdy. “It's a good place to be. We took our lumps early in hopes that kind of competition would help us in this kind of environment, and I think it is paying off.”
Final Score Dexter 65, Malden 50
Dexter 20 19 15 11 - 65
Malden 8 15 10 17 - 50
Dexter (65) – Jason Jarrell 19, Jacob Pedigo 6, Ethan Flowers 14, Tyler Heil 6, Gabe Jackson 20. FG 22, FT17/24, F 10 (3-pointers: Jason Jarrell 1, Ethan Flowers 3. Fouled Out: None).
Malden (50) – Kylus Thompson 5, Tyler Ison 8, Malcom McBride 1, Ned Lee 20, Shamaudre Barber 4, Trevor Ison 12. FG 20, FT 6/13, F 20 (3-pointers: Ned Lee 3, Kylus Thompson 1. Fouled Out: None).
