BELL CITY, Mo. - After a disappointing week on the road last week, the Dexter Bearcats needed a big win to help build up momentum going into the next to last week of the regular season. The ‘Cats did just that, and put on quite a show Tuesday night (Feb. 8). After the final buzzer sounded, the Bearcats had defeated the Cubs, winning by 44 points.

The ‘Cats started the contest seemingly a bit fuzzy, with nearly half the squad coming off the bench after battling illness last week. Jerad Yates came up with a steal for the Cubs, and put the first two points of the contest on the board with a 15-foot jumper. Dexter’s Jake Cox picked off a Yates pass less than a minute later and dumped the ball to Alan Flannigan, who dropped in Dexter’s first points of the night. Tyler Miller hit a trey with 5:00 left in the first quarter, putting the ‘Cats up 5-4. Dexter senior Taylor Jarrell started off the night with two quick fouls, and was replaced by Jake Lee with 4:30 left in the opening frame.

Dexter mounted an impressive 20-0 run, but Alan Hess completed the three-point-play for the Cubs with 30 seconds left in the quarter. Miller hit two free-throws with 15 seconds on the clock to give Dexter a 25-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Dexter lurched out on another scoring spree to open the second quarter, aided by threes from Flannigan and Logan Robey. Bryn Hester came up with two steals in the quarter, and Miller had one steal. Dexter never had less than a 19 point lead in the quarter, and used bench players extensively; Junior Brandon Moore saw a lot of playing time. The ‘Cats ended the second quarter with another scoring run, 8-0, and went into halftime with a commanding 28 point lead.

Hester was again good from beyond the arc in the opening seconds of the second half. Flannigan blocked Yates’ 12-footer with 5:00 left in the frame, tipped in his own miss on the ensuing possession, and hit his second three of the night at the 2:30 mark. The bright spots for the Cubs in the frame were steals from Terrance Johnson and Aaron Smith, which led to two of their 12 points in the frame. Despite putting up the highest quarter point total of the evening, the Cubs were still facing a 39 point deficit after three quarters of action.


Robey was again good from three-point land, putting them back to being up by 39 with 5:00 left in the contest. The clock never stopped due to the ‘mercy rule’ during the fourth quarter, and that seemed to be about the only thing that could slow the Bearcats’ offensive attack down.

Miller came up with another steal that led to a Jake Cox layup with 4:10 left on the clock; Lee had an offensive rebound and putback less than a minute later. Alan Flannigan dunked over Bell City’s Cody Kight with 1:10 left on the clock. The Bearcats only scored 14 points in the frame, but still found themselves on top of a 44-point routing of the Bell City Cubs, with a 80-36 final score.

“We had really good defensive intensity,” said Alan Flannigan after the game. “We moved the ball better and didn’t turn it over as much, so we improved over the last couple games for sure.”

“Sometimes it just happens; you come out, feel a bit flat, and look like you’re not giving 100-percent. We got into it better in the second and third quarter.”

The Bearcats will be in action again Friday night, when they face the Kennett Indians at home at the Bearcat Event Center.

“They’ll probably do a lot of the same,” said Flannigan about the Indians. “Kennett plays like Kennett, regardless of the game or situation. Its going to be an emotional game for us, being senior night; plus, they beat us in the [Bloomfield] Christmas Tournament finals; they’ll come out hot, we’ll come out hot, and it will be a great game. We’ll have to play our best to get the win.”

The junior varsity portion of the Bearcats’ final regular-season home game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the BEC, with varsity action to follow. Senior recognition, honoring the senior basketball players and cheerleading squad members, will be held prior to tip-off of the varsity game.

Photos above
(top photo)Senior Taylor Jarrell guards Bell City's Terrance Johnson during Tuesday night's game at Bell City.
(lower photo)Head coach Rob Nichols talks to his Bearcat squad during the final quarter of the game.

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	25	18	23	14	80
BELL CITY	8	7	12	9	36

DEXTER	FG	3s	FT	TOTAL
Cox	4	--	1-2	9
Hester	3	1	--	9
Flannigan	6	2	0-2	18
Robey	2	2	--	10
Lee	5	--	0-1	10
Miller	3	1	5-8	14
Bollinger	2	--	4-6	8
Moore	--	--	1-2	1
Jarrell	--	--	1-2	1
BELL CITY	FG	3s	FT	TOTAL
Liggons	--	--	2-2	2
Yates	2	--	0-1	4
Johnson	4	--	0-1	4
Kight	1	--	--	2
Hess	1	--	6-7	9
Overby	2	--	--	4
Hughes	--	--	3-6	3
Vires	2	--	--	2

A ShowMe Times Sports Report

The Dexter Lady Bearcat Basketball team game against Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau that scheduled for tonight, Monday, Feb. 7, has been postponed due to weather conditions in the region.

The game has been rescheduled for next Mondayat the Bearcat Event Center. Two quarters of junior varsity play will precede the Bearcats and Notre Dame Bulldogs varsity game, scheduled for 7 p.m.

By Andrew Cato,
ShowMe Times Sports

ADVANCE, Mo. - The Dexter Bearcats had to go into one of the most hostile environments in Stoddard County basketball Friday night (Feb. 4) when they faced off against the Advance Hornets.

To make things even more interesting, it was Advance’s Homecoming, and the Bearcats were playing without the help of senior Alan Flannigan, who was out sick for the night. Flannigan, as well as several of his teammates, have been battling the flu for most of the week. The Bearcats weren’t able to crash the Hornets’ Homecoming, with Advance coming out on top with a final score of 65-49.

The Bearcats came out a little fuzzy in the first quarter. Hunter Wilson hit a 15 foot jumper on the opening possession of the game for the Hornets; teammate Grant Gray was good from beyond the arc at the 6:00 mark to help Advance jump out on a quick 10-0 run to start the game. Jake Cox made a big steal on the ensuing possession and took the ball the length of the court to put Dexter’s first two points on the board. Advance held the lead, 16-5, at the end of the first quarter.

Tyler Miller opened the second quarter with a steal for the Bearcats, but wasn’t able to score. Advance went on a quick 6-0 run to open the frame, but Miller came up with a big block and two rebounds to help swing the momentum back in the Bearcats’ favor. The ‘Cats were able to cut Advance’s lead to six points with three minutes left in the half, but Gray nabbed the ball on a mishandled pass to put an end to Dexter’s offensive surge.

Junior Jake Lee had a hard block on Advance’s Darren VanGennip with 50 seconds left in the half. The ‘Cats were able to scoop the ball and sophomore Chase Young hit a deep three with just seconds left on the clock, but the Hornets still held a 10 point lead going into halftime.

Cox made his second steal of the night in the opening minutes of the third, but the Hornets were still able to force a 6-0 run to start the second half. The Bearcats made sloppy passes throughout the quarter and Advance capitalized, scoring eight of their 14 points in the frame off turnovers. Dexter went 2-9 from the free-throw line and were held to six points in the frame; Advance held a commanding 18 point lead at the end of the quarter.

Wilson hit his only three of the night in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, increasing the Hornets’ lead to 21. Miller again led the ‘Cats in the fourth with two deep threes, a three point play, and another block. Bryn Hester and Young also came up with steals for the Bearcats in the quarter, but Dexter was never able to cut Advance’s lead to less than 13 points. Dylan Dunivan picked off a pass from Taylor Jarrell in the closing minute of the game, dropped in a layup, and drew a charge, but was unable to connect on his free-throw for the three-point play. The Hornets went on a six point run to close the contest, ending with a 16 point victory on their homecoming night.

“Besides Alan [Flannigan], Jake Lee, Jordan Fitts, and Jake Cox were all out with sickness this week,” Bearcat coach Rob Nichols said after the game, “So I knew we would struggle for energy a little bit, but again: we didn’t play well, and we didn’t handle the ball well.”

“He [Flannigan] played up in St. Louis all summer, so we’ve played without him before,” Nichols said. “For the most part, we played better offensively than what we did tonight; we didn’t look as tight.” 
“In the summer, they were more free with it and more aggressive; tonight they [Dexter] didn’t look like they wanted to make a mistake, which led to a lot of mistakes.”
“There just wasn’t any consistent offensive attack tonight.”

“We just had too many turnovers right at the beginning.” Tyler Miller said after the game. “We got down and just couldn’t get back up; we still had the New Madrid game in our heads from all the turnovers, and it was hard to deal with that.”

“Obviously we think that, us being the Dexter Bearcats, we’ve got a lot to prove without Alan [Flannigan] being here,” said Jake Lee, “but it was a tough loss for us. Shots weren’t falling for us tonight.”

“I’ve been out three days this week with the flu,” Lee continued,”and I’m totally drained out. We’re all going to get back in the gym Sunday, get healthy, and look for that win Tuesday night. We’ve just gotta keep our heads together, because it could be real easy to break apart as a team right now.”

Photo above Dexter's Jake Cox takes the ball down court during Friday night's loss to Advance. The Hornets won their Homecoming game over the Bearcats, 65-49.

By Andrew Cato,
ShowMe Times Sports

The Dexter Lady Bearcats put on a display of complete defensive dominance Thursday night (Feb. 3) at home. The Lady ‘Cats faced off against the Lady Hawks of Kelly, and held the Hawks scoreless for the first six and a half minutes of the first quarter.

Freshman Alison Jarrell opened the night for the Lady ‘Cats with a steal and a three-pointer in the opening minute of the game. Dexter jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, when Brittany Harris blocked a jumper from Kelly’s Kristen Powell at the 6:00 mark to keep the shutout effort going. Erika Cobb was able to connect from beyond the arc for the ‘Cats, pushing Dexter’s lead to 15-0. Harris stole the ball from Powell and dumped it to Cobb, allowing the Lady ‘Cat freshman to hit her second three of the night at the 1:40 mark.

Kristen Vetter scored put up Kelly’s first points of the evening, hitting an easy layup with 1:30 left in the opening quarter and ending an impressive 20-0 Dexter run. Hannah Noe connected from three-point land with 45 second left in the first, and Harris made her second steal of the night to prevent a Lady Hawk fast-break with 10 seconds on the clock. The Lady ‘Cats had a dominating 22 point lead at the end of the first.

Harris again stole the ball immediately after Kelly’s inbounds pass to open the second quarter, allowing Jarrell to hit her second three of the night on the ensuing possession. Powell made an easy layup at the 6:00 mark for the Lady Hawks, stopping another scoring spree (7-0 to open the frame) for the Bearcats. Cobb, Paige Patterson, and Mollie Whitehead all recorded steals in the quarter to help keep the Lady ‘Cats on top going into halftime, 37-7.

The third quarter was more of a defensive battle than the first half. Dexter’s defense continued to impress, with Jarrell recording her second steal of the night at the 6:40 mark. Kelly’s defense also stepped up in the frame, holding the Lady ‘Cats to only nine points in the frame, but Dexter still held a commanding 34 point lead after the third. Dexter was able to rotate in some of it sub’s during the fourth quarter, with Kendra Stevenson, Raezheem Miller, and Sarah Langely all seeing action in the frame. Harris had an opportunity for a three-point-play with 6:00 left in the game, but was unable to connect on the free-throw. The Lady Hawks were able to put up seven points in the frame - their highest total in any quarter of the contest, but Dexter came out on top with a 55-19 final score.

The Lady ‘Cats will next be in action on February 7, when they face Notre Dame at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

A ShowMe Times Sports Report

The temperature outside may have had a definite winter chill, but inside the Bearcat Event Center things were ‘hot’ as the Lady Bearcats defeated the Doniphan Donnettes 83-45 on Monday evening (Jan. 31).

Dexter freshman Allison Jarrell tied Lady Bearcat record for the most 3-point shots in a single game. Jarrell hit seven 3’s in the Doniphan game, matching the school record set in 2006 by Taylor Nelson. Jarrell had a total of 25 points in Monday’s game.

Leading the Lady ‘Cats was Brittany Harris, who scored 28 points in the first 3 quarters of the contest. Jarrell brought home 25 points, followed by Mollie Whitehead with 10, Hannah Noe – 7, Erica Cobb – 5, and Paige Patterson – 4.

Doniphan’s Raven Sturgeon led the Donnettes with 19 points. Teammate Hannah Netherland was the only other Donnette in double digits with 13; Emily Stonecipher had 4, Halle McCaffrey – 3; Micah Smith – 2; Leslie Wood – 2; Brittney Ritter – 2.