The 2011 All-County Cheerleading squad was chosen during the 86th Annual Stoddard County Tournament. Members of the squad were announced during the championship game on Friday, Jan. 28 and brought to center court for the medal presentation. Members of the squad are (front row, from left) Madison Pixley, Ashley Mick, Jessica Norman, McKenzie Mitchell, Taylor Martin, all of Dexter; (back row, from left) Allie Below, Advance; Alex Eakin, Bell City; Kendra Elder, Mariah Massey, both of Bloomfield; Rachel Vernon and Paige Mays of Bernie; and Taylor Pulley, Bloomfield.

By Andrew Cato,
ShowMe Times Sports

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The stage was set. The teams ready. The crowd ready for a night of basketball.

The championship game of the 86th Annual Stoddard County Tournament on Jan. 28 pitted the Bernie Mules and the Dexter Bearcats in the second time the teams have met this season. The game was also a rematch of the 2010 tournament finals - with both teams ready to battle it out to be crowned the basketball champions of Stoddard County by the evening’s end.

Dexter has had trouble finishing games with the Mules the last two seasons. When the two teams met two weeks ago the Mules squeaked past the Bearcats, winning by six points. In last year’s finals, the Mules beat the ‘Cats by just a point, 47-46.

The Bearcats’ defense seemed much improved over their previous meeting, with Tyler Miller and Alan Flannigan each having a block and a takeaway during the opening quarter. Cameron Shipman hit a three with about two minutes left for the Mules, but was quickly answered by Logan Robey for the Bearcats, who hit his first three of the night on the ensuing possession. The Mules held onto a 13-11 lead at the end of the first.


Dexter’s defensive dominance continued in the second quarter. Miller had two more takeaways, and Bryn Hester, Jake Cox, and Jake Lee each picked off Bernie passes. Eight of the ‘Cats’ 14 points in the frame came off turnovers, but Jordan McGowan again shot brilliantly from three-point land. The senior made five threes the during the regular season meeting between the two clubs, and was no different tonight.

McGowan hit his first three at the 2:15 mark, made a big steal 10 seconds later, and hit another NBA-range three with two minutes left in the half. Senior Taylor Jarrell had two big layups off offensive rebounds to put the Bearcats in the lead, 24-21, in the final seconds of the half, but McGowan hit another deep three at the buzzer to tie things at 24 going into halftime.

Turnovers marred the beginning of the second half, with Bernie’s Jesse Shelton nabbing the ball away on Dexter’s opening possession. Jake Cox quickly stole the ball back for the Bearcats, but neither team was able to find the bottom of the rim until McGowan hit his fourth three of the night for the Mules with 6:30 left in the quarter.

Flannigan hit a deep three for the ‘Cats and came up with a big block on Bernie’s Sammy Walker on the next possession. Cox was good from behind the arc for the ‘Cats to give Dexter a two-point lead with three minutes left in the frame.

Flannigan tipped in a missed Miller jumper to increase Dexter’s lead to five, but McGowan hit his fifth three of the night on the ensuing possession to cut the lead back to two. The Bearcats went on a quick 6-0 run that was capped by a beautiful Flannigan finger-roll at the buzzer. The third quarter ended with a 41-33 Bearcat lead.

Miller got yet another takeaway in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but scoring for both teams stalled until Robey hit his second three of the night for Dexter. Jake Lee completed a three-point play with 3:30 left in the contest, and Hester drained another three on the next possession to push the Bearcats’ lead to 15.

Shipman hit back-to-back threes for the Mules to cut Dexter’s lead to 11 with two minutes left in the game. Even though the ‘Cats went 1 of 5 from the free-throw line in the fourth, they were still able to hang on to the lead and win the game 56-49.

“Rebounding and all around effort were the keys tonight; we wanted it more tonight than we did last time we played,” said Tyler Miller after the game. “Effort was the biggest thing. We played to win instead of playing to not lose.”

“Its the last tournament that I’ll ever play in [in this gym], and we made it a good one,” Senior Alan Flannigan said. “We didn’t handle the ball as well last game; we didn’t move the ball well so it was hard to get in our offensive flow. We made big shots down the stretch and everybody stepped up.”

“We pressured them as hard as we could,” said Dexter head coach Rob Nichols, “we played half-court man or zone and tried to limit their penetration.”

“We weren’t very happy about that [shot at the buzzer]. We didn’t finish the quarter very well; we forced it where we should have been taking the last shot and he [McGowan] hit a tough shot, that’s what he does. Those shots [Cameron] Shipman hit at the end of the game, you’ve gotta give him credit. Those were tough shots,” Nichols commented.

“The kids did a good job; we worked on these defensive adjustments for four or five days, and for them to play as well as they did, its a good thing. We forced them [Bernie] to take some shots and our guys rebounded well.”

Nichols gave the Bernie squad its due, noting the team was tenacious and hard-working throughout the night.

“Bernie is a team that isn’t going to quit. They’re well-coached and they play hard. Any time you can beat them you know you’ve played well; they’re a good basketball team with good basketball players,” the Dexter coach said.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - In the first of the Friday's championship games at the 2011 Bloomfield Christmas Tournament the Dexter Bearcats and the Bloomfield Wildcats, faced off in in a rematch of last year’s junior varsity championship game

The game started slow offensively, with only 15 points scored in the opening frame. Brad Potts led the way for the Bearcats, dropping in two buckets. The Bearcats also struggled from the free-throw line, making only one of three, but Dexter was still able to hold a 9-6 lead after the first quarter.

Caleb Baker hit a three with 2:00 left in the half for Bloomfield, but the Wildcats missed all of their three free-throw attempts in the frame. Ryan Joyner dropped in six for Dexter, and the Bearcats held a four point lead going into halftime up 22-15.

Chase Young was two missed free-throws away from matching Bloomfield’s point total in the third quarter; the sophomore dropped in nine points for the Bearcats, including a deep three-point basket. Young also recorded a steal for the ‘Cats in the closing seconds of the quarter. Bloomfield was able to get a buzzer-beating layup from from Brett Ruch, but Dexter still had a commanding 11 point lead at the end of the third.

Young went on another tear for the Bearcats in the fourth, dropping in 10 points in the frame. The Wildcats went 12-15 from the free-throw line and had 20 points in the fourth, but the Bearcats still came out on top, with a final score of 61-46.

Young went on another tear for the Bearcats in the fourth, dropping in 10 points in the frame. The Wildcats went 12-15 from the free-throw line and had 20 points in the fourth, but the Bearcats still came out on top, with a final score of 61-46.

Caleb Baker hit a three with 2:00 left in the half for Bloomfield, but the Wildcats missed all of their three free-throw attempts in the frame. Ryan Joyner dropped in six for Dexter, and the Bearcats held a four point lead going into halftime up 22-15.

Chase Young was two missed free-throws away from matching Bloomfield’s point total in the third quarter; the sophomore dropped in nine points for the Bearcats, including a deep three-point basket. Young also recorded a steal for the ‘Cats in the closing seconds of the quarter. Bloomfield was able to get a buzzer-beating layup from from Brett Ruch, but Dexter still had a commanding 11 point lead at the end of the third.

Young went on another tear for the Bearcats in the fourth, dropping in 10 points in the frame. The Wildcats went 12-15 from the free-throw line and had 20 points in the fourth, but the Bearcats still came out on top, with a final score of 61-46.

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	9	22	37	61	61
BLOOMFIELD	6	15	26	46	46

DEXTER	FG	3s	FT	TOTAL
Young	--	--	--	23
Joyner	--	--	--	12
Potts	--	--	--	10
Neldon	--	--	--	9
Dowdy	--	--	--	6
Miller	--	--	--	1

BLOOMFIELD	FB	FT	TOTAL
Ruch	--	--	15
Williamson	--	--	12
Baker	--	--	9
Phillips	--	--	6
Sanders	--	--	2
West	--	--	2

Luke Rinne, Assistant Sports Information Director

(Rolla, Mo.) – Toni Knar's jumper from just outside the free throw line with 0:50 left in overtime proved to be the game winner as Missouri S&T hung on for a 65-63 win over Maryville on Saturday afternoon. S&T rallied from 16 down early in the second half and gave head coach Alan Eads his 121st win to become the school's all-time winningest coach.

The Lady Miners (15-5, 9-3 GLVC) were able to win the game despite shooting 25 percent (3-for-12) at the foul line and was 4-of-22 (18 percent) from downtown.

The Lady Miners scored the game's first bucket on a layup by Courtney Kemp but after that it was all Saints (8-12, 3-9 GLVC).

Maryville shot 43 percent from the floor and from behind the three-point arc in the opening stanza. It led by as many as 12 on two different occasions including 35-23 at the break. The Saints were led in scoring by JoAnn Thompson with 10 points. Abby Duethman had seven while Brittany Fish added six and Kate Childs had five.

S&T shot just 33 percent from the floor and was even worse from three making just 2-of-12 from downtown. The Lady Miners did win the battle on the glass however 20-to-12. Hailee Parks had eight to lead S&T while Kemp had five and Knar dropped in three.

Maryville took its largest lead of the game scoring the first four points of the second half on baskets from Childs and Angela Pepowski just under two minutes into the second stanza.

S&T cut the lead to nine on three different occasions but each time the Saints had an answer pushing the lead back to double figures.

The Lady Miners closed to within 46-44 on a three by Knar with exactly nine minutes to play. However, Maryville again had an answer as Samantha Robison hit a three in the corner to push the advantage back to five.

Knar and Duethman traded three's about 0:20 apart to keep the contest at a five-point margin.

Parks brought S&T back to within a point on a layup with 4:46 to play.

Neither side scored for nearly two minutes until Thompson hit a jumper with just over three minutes left.

Parks again made it a one point game, but Courtney Pedersen's layup with 2:08 left pushed the lead back to three.

Fareedah Washington scored a pair of baskets 0:22 apart to give the Lady Miners their first lead since the opening basket at 59-58 with 1:22 left.

Pedersen missed a layup and Parks came away with the rebound but S&T was unable to ice the game as it turned it over with 0:38 remaining.

Maryville had a chance to regain the lead as Pepowski went to the foul line with 0:12 left. She made the first but was called for a lane violation on the second negating the second make.

The Lady Miners held for the last shot and Julie Meyer's jumper at the buzzer rimmed out to send it to the extra frame.

The Saints scored first in OT as Thompson hit 1-of-2 at the stripe to make it 60-59 just 1:15 in.

Meyer gave S&T the lead back with a layup a minute later then Kemp hit a jumper in the paint to make it 63-60 with less than two to play.

The Lady Miners had a chance to ice the game but Knar's three rimmed out and Parks couldn't get put home the rebound with 1:27 left.

Maryville tied the game on Brittany Fish's fourth three of the afternoon with 1:13 to play.

Knar scored on the ensuing possession to give S&T the lead back.

The Saints missed a jumper almost 0:10 later and Parks came away with the rebound. After a couple of timeouts the Lady Miners ran the clock down to 0:16 as Kemp was fouled. She went to the line with a chance to make it a two possession game but missed both.

Maryville got the rebound but was unable to get a shot off as Parks stole the ball from Thompson with 0:03 left to preserve the win.

S&T shot 53 percent (19-for-36) from the floor in the second half and overtime and finished the game shooting 29-of-66 (44 percent). It outrebounded the Saints by a 44-to-36 margin and outscored them 26-10 in the paint.

Parks had a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds on 10-for-15 shooting to lead the Lady Miners. The 10 field goals made were a career-high and the 14 rebounds matched her career-high. Knar finished with 13 while Washington had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Maryville shot just 11-for-36 (31 percent) in the second half and overtime. It finished the game shooting 36 percent (23-of-64) from the field and was 10-for-24 from behind the arc. Thompson had 13 to lead four Saint players in double figures. Fish had 12 while Pepowski had 11 and Duethman finished with 10.

S&T continues its three-game home stand next Thursday hosting Northern Kentucky beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Photo above The 2010-2011 Missouri S & T women’s basketball team includes (front row, from left) Cathryn Heil, Dexter; Taylor Jenson, Farmington; Yael Pelleg, Richon Leion, Isreal; Senait McLeod, Miama, Fla.; Courtney Kemp, Fredericktown; Toni Knar, Mundelein, Ill.; (back row, from left) Chelsea Stangel, Manitowoc, Wisc.; Julie Meyer, Marthaville; Hailee Parks, Sullivan; Karli Sample, St. Joseph; Natalie Massey, Mechanicsville, Iowa; D’Naya Mims, Chicago; Fareedah Washington, Forrest City, Ark.; Katelyn Heil, Dexter.

From the Three Rivers Sports News Office

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - The only thing better than snapping a four-game Region XVI losing streak is getting a little payback in the process.

Just ask the Three Rivers Lady Raiders, who snapped a four-game regional losing streak by routing the Moberly Area Lady Greyhounds 84-54 Saturday evening (Jan. 29) at the Bess Activity Center. Saturday’s win avenged a 75-63 loss to the Lady Greyhounds two weeks earlier.

“Big win. Redemption. Any other word you want to stick in there,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. “All of these region games are must-wins but we needed to get this one.”

This time around, the Lady Raiders (14-10, 2-5 XVI) took the lead just a few minutes in and never looked back, steadily pulling away. Ashlee Taylor’s three-point play with 14:43 left in the first half gave the Three Rivers a 7-6 lead - a lead 3R never relinquished.

Taylor’s presence was a big factor Saturday, as the sophomore was limited by injury in the first match at Moberly 2 weeks ago This time, she scored a game-high 25 points.

“When we went up there we were shorthanded,” said Walk. “Tonight they were shorthanded. We’re getting healthy at the right time and starting to play better.”

The Lady ‘Hounds rallied, using a 6-0 run midway through the first half to pull within one point (13-12) but Brooke Godsey’s basket near the 8-minute mark stopped the run and sparked a Three Rivers spurt. Whitney Mills’ bucket with 6:20 left in the half made it a 19-12 game, and the Lady Raiders led 37-24 at the break.

Three Rivers pushed the lead over 20 points early in the second half, and Moriah Goodrum’s free throw with 7:22 to go made it a 69-39 lead.

“Our defensive intensity for the entire game was just taking a toll on them,” Walk said.

Joining Taylor in double figures for the Lady Raiders were Godsey with 18 points and Lacy Staten with 14. Three Rivers is back in action Wednesday when it travels to Jefferson for another key Region XVI contest.

Photo above Dexter's Ashlee Taylor goes up for a shot during Three Rivers' Lady Raiders game against Moberly on Jan. 29. (Three Rivers College Sports photo)