By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

With spring already upon us, many sports teams are beginning to practice and prepare for their first competitions of the year. The Dexter High School track team is no exception, and head coach Jill King seemed very excited about her team this year.

“I just have an all-around good group this year, we’re just pretty young,” King commented. “They work hard everyday and I haven’t, knock on wood, had to get onto any of them. [Assistant Coach] Greg Lummukka helps out with keeping the kids in line - its springtime, so you have to let them have some fun, but you still have to get work done.”

King was excited about what she’s seen from the girls squad, but hasn’t had much time with the whole team yet due to tryouts for other sports.

“We’ve had cheerleading tryouts last week, and dance team this week, so I really haven’t seen all the girls together,” King said.


King was, however, already able to spot some ladies standing out from the crowd.

“Raezheem Miller is one of our new ones out this year,” King continued. “She’s a senior from Louisiana, and she by far has impressed me with both her work ethic and speed. I just wish I could have had her all four years. Raezheem and Taylor Martin, I expect good things from them in the 4x100 and 4x200 meter relays. She [Miller] and Taylor [Martin] will definitely be my fastest, but I still don’t know who will be the other two. I’ve had quite a few look pretty good, so I’m anxious to see what happens.”


Also noted was senior Lizzy Kohlbaker - a distance runner that is pulling some collegiate attention.

“Lizzy wants to run at Rolla (Missouri S&T) next year, so she’s working really hard for a scholarship,” King said. “Katie Justice, a freshman, stayed in shape all winter long, and should also be a pretty good distance runner for us. Chandler Crowley has also impressed me in the hurdles - she was practicing for it even before the season started.”

“Madison Pixley and Raezheem [Miller],” King said of her two senior jumpers, “I’m looking for them to both score some points in the triple-jump and high-jump.”



The girls nearly double the boys on the team this year, but King has already noted the leaders on the boys squad.



“We’re just low on the number of boys this year, but the ones that are out there work really hard. Daniel McCoy and Dylan Hardin are both good senior leaders,” King commented. “[They both] work hard every day.”




“Austin Richardson and Zach Comstock are jumping for the boys,” King continued. “Austin is competing in the high jump, and I expect Zach to do pretty good in the triple and long jump.”


 Rounding out the group are the throwers. King expects seniors McCoy and Dylan Sandlin to do great things for the team in the pit.

“Daniel McCoy and Dylan Sandlin should both be great throwing for the guys, and Sarah Langley for the girls,” King commented. “Coach Lummakka has been working with them the most, so I’m not sure how the younger ones are doing, but Brandon Grimm seems like he’s doing well.”

The team starts the season with two meets at Notre Dame in Cape Girardeau, Mo.


“Our first meet is Tuesday (March 22) - the Notre Dame Open,” King said. “Then we go back to Notre Dame Saturday (March 26) for the Notre Dame Relays, but I’ll be missing the choir and band kids (State Music Contest is the same day on Mizzou’s campus in Columbia, Mo.), but we’ll see how it goes. A lot of them can get there later, so they’ll miss the morning events, but hopefully they’ll be able to make it for some events later in the day.” The ‘Cats will be at home one time this year - Tuesday, April 19 - for the Dexter open. Make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times for updates on the track team throughout the season!


Photos above Top Photo: Daniel McCoy instructs his teammates on proper discus technique.
Middle photo: Raezheem Miller practices the high jump.
Bottom photo: Austin Richardson takes a turn in the high jump pit.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The DMS seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams are both off to great starts.

The seventh grade squad competed in the Poplar Bluff Classic on Saturday, March 12. They faced stiff competition from Bloomfield, Poplar Bluff, and Advance. The Lady 'Cats beat Advance in two sets in the championship game to bring home the first place trophy!

The eighth grade squad saw their first action of the season Monday (March 15) night against Bloomfield at home, and were able to defeat the Wildcats in two sets (25-2, 25-13). Courtney Potts was the top scorer in both sets, scoring 20 and six points, respectively.

The seventh grade squad was also able to win in two sets against Bloomfield (25-9, 25-12). Lauren Thrower scored 10 for the Lady 'Cats in the first set, and teammate Julia Hahn put up seven in the second.



Make sure to check back with the ShowMe Times for updates as the season progresses!







Photos above Top Photo: DMS' seventh grade volleyball team consists of (front row, from left): Madison Bishop, Lauren Thrower, Julia Hahn, Mary Kate Miller, and Paige Chasteen - (back row, from left): Kaylee Howard, Ashlyn Werneck, Kendell Adams, Delaney Pullam, Alyssa Pixley, Matney Davis, and Amber Spence.
Bottom photo: The eighth grade team consists of (front row, from left): Miranda Rogers, Mackinlee Rogers, Shyann Jines, Courtney Potts, and Jessie Gott - (back row, from left): Manager Carley Jameson, Kelci Wood, Alexis Smith, Jessica Lindsey, Breanna Bowers, Madison Christian, and Afton Harris (not pictured: Breanna Walker.)

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

Dexter native Marcus Greer, the son of Matt and Lisa Greer, is doing great things on the basketball court at his new home in St. Louis.

Marcus' team, the Titans, recently won the Midwest March Madness Youth Basketball Tournament, held in Indiana.

Marcus (kneeling, far left on front row) is currently in fifth grade, and is attending school at Our Lady of the Pillar School in Ladue, Mo.

By Alan Hedrick
ShowMe Times Sports

(Houghton, Mich.) – Katelyn and Cathryn Heil of Dexter, entering their second season at Missouri S&T, were unable to keep up with the hot shooting of Wisconsin-Parkside as the Missouri S&T Lady Miners fell 73-55 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Houghton, Mich. S&T finished its season with 20 wins, marking just the third time in school history that the program has had 20 or more wins.

The Lady Miners,(20-8) after not playing for two weeks, were rusty early falling behind  6-0 three minutes into the contest. S&T missed its first four shots from the floor and had a turnover before Julie Meyer made a lay-up for its first points of the game.

The Rangers (23-6) were deadly from the floor making 14 of its first 15 shots on its way to building a double digit lead nine minutes into the contest.

The Lady Miners got as close as 15-6 before Parkside went on a 16-4 run spanning five minutes to take its biggest lead of the ball game at 31-10 at the 5:39 mark.

S&T started to get its offense going over the final five minutes of the half eventually cutting the deficit to 10 on a pair of free throws by Fareedah Washington with 0:10.3 left in the half.

Kaitlyn Bettiga’s driving lay-up on the ensuing possession sent the Rangers to the locker room with a 35-23 advantage.

Parkside cooled slightly after its hot start making just 2-of-7 from the floor the rest of the half but still shot 73 percent. The Rangers dominated in the paint outscoring the Lady Miners 28-to-16.

S&T shot 10-for-28 (36 percent) from the floor and were tied in rebounding at 14 apiece with Parkside..

Each side exchanged a pair of buckets in the first two minutes of the second half before the Lady Miners began to chip away at the lead. Trailing by 10, Courtney Kemp and Chelsea Stangel each hit a three in a 6-2 run that brought them within 44-38 with less than 15 minutes to play.

Rooney was just too tough to stop, as she scored 11 of her game-high 26 points in the game-deciding 15-2 run stretching the Rangers lead to 59-40 with less than 10 minutes to play. Rooney also hit a trio of threes in the run.

From that point, S&T didn’t get any closer than 14 points the rest of the contest. The trio of Rooney, Bettiga and Beyer accounted for 61 of Parkside’s 73 points. The Rangers finished the game shooting nearly 70 percent (32-for-46) from the floor and scored 44 points in the paint. They also turned 18 Lady Miner turnovers into 27 points. S&T shot 52.4 percent in the second half and finished the game 21-of-49 (43 percent) from the floor. On the glass the Lady Miners finished with a 26-to-22 advantage. Washington had 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Miners. Kemp scored all 11 of her points in the second half while Meyer added 10 more.

                                               

	1st Half	2nd Half	FINAL
MISSOURI S&T	23	32	55
WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE	35	38	73

MISSOURI S&T: Fareedah-14. Kemp-11. Meyer-10. Parks-8. K. Heil-5. Stangel-3. Sample-2. Mims-2.

WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE: Rooney-26. Bettiga-16. Beyer-15. Trussell-7. Hogen-5. Slivka-2. Ruchti-2.

Photos provided by Missouri S&T Sports Information.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - After winning all of their playoff games, save one, by double digits, the Bernie Mules (ranked fourth in the state, 26-4 record) were one game away from advancing to the Final Four for the second consecutive year. The only thing standing between the Mules and a trip to Columbia was the New Haven Shamrocks (ranked seventh in the state, 24-4 record). After a hard fought battle, the Mules came out on top, winning by a 58-50 final score.

“I think our kids, especially in the second half, did whatever they had to do to win the game,” Bernie head coach Brad Botsch said. “We hit our open looks, got some penetration, and got their [New Haven] kids in foul trouble (Austin Peirick and Lance Gerlemann both fouled out in the fourth quarter) a little bit, and did a better job screening. They took us out of what we wanted to do in the first half, but the second half effort was just tremendous.”

Bernie’s star senior Jordan McGowan, who typically shoots outside insanely well, was a little off in the first half, but Botsch credited teammates Cameron Shipman and Jesse Shelton as key contributors to the victory.


“Jesse [Shelton] gets a lot of his points off penetration, but Cameron [Shipman] has really shot the ball well of late,” Botsch commented. “[Shipman] really helped carry us in the sectional game. I thought our kids did what they had to do, especially with them [New Haven] covering up Jordan [McGowan] as hard as they were.”



Botsch stated in an earlier interview that McGowan and Sammy Walker would both have to have great games in the paint.


“We wanted to keep that big kid pushed off the block, and he still got a few points on us,” Botsch said, “but Sammy [Walker] did a great job of getting him out of the paint. Sometimes there’s not a whole lot you can do when the kid has nine inches on you - Sammy’s only about six feet tall - but his strength and his heart kept him going.”


“Jordan, for the most part, did a real good job on that Gerlemann kid inside,” Botsch continued. “He did give up a few offensive rebounds at different times in the game, but overall, he did a tremendous job inside.”

McGowan credited his team’s heart, as well as dominance on the glass, as key factors in the victory.

“We played with tremendous heart tonight,” McGowan said. “Rebounding was phenomenal tonight, and that was a big part of our gameplan. It took a lot to get ready for their bigs, but we worked hard in practice all week. We knew making shots in key situations was a big point for this game, and my team did that tonight. We knew we were going to have to work really hard on #40 [Elijah Fleer] and get him out of the paint. He hit some shots, but you can’t hardly stop 6’9”.”

McGowan, who set the state record for charges drawn in a career, drew two more charges in the contest.


“I think I hit 80 tonight,” McGowan continued. “We really focused on pressuring the ball, and not letting them [New Haven] run as much time off the clock as they’re known for. We knew we’d get beat of the dribble a couple times, but I was able to pick up a couple charges on it, and that really helped power my team to the top tonight.”

The Mules will advance to the Final Four for the second time in as many years. Bernie will face off against Wellington-Napoleon on Thursday (March 17) at 3:20 p.m. The Final Four will be held at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.

                                            

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
BERNIE	10	9	16	23	58
NEW HAVEN	8	16	13	13	50

BERNIE: McGowan-22. Shipman-14. Walker-9. Shelton-7. Eaves-3. Turner-3.

NEW HAVEN: Engelbrecht-16. Fleer-12. Menke-8. Peirick-6. Gerlemann-4. Tritch-4.




In the day’s second contest, the Couch Lady Indians (24-3) and the Meadow Heights Lady Panthers (25-3) faced off in a double-overtime thriller.


 After the final buzzer sounded, the Couch Lady Indians came out on top, and will advance to the Final Four. The Lady Indians will face North Platte on Thursday (March 17) at 6:40 p.m., at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.



Photos above Top Photo: Bernie players and coaches celebrate their 58-50 victory over New Haven.
Middle Photo: Bernie’s Jesse Shelton puts up a shot over two New Haven defenders.
Bottom photo: Couch’s Jordan Hale (white jersey) battles Jillian Mills (#24) for a loose ball.

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	OT 1	OT 2	FINAL
COUCH	8	11	8	12	6	15	59
MEADOW HEIGHTS	5	18	3	13	6	5	50


COUCH: Hower-27. Neptune-13. Hale-8. Roberts-6. Nessling-5.


MEADOW HEIGHTS: Welker-19. Bollman-14. Dietiker-6. Gureton-6. Morse-3. Cook-2.