By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BERNIE -- The Lady ‘Cats have struggled in their last few games since the SEMO Spike Tournament, but Thursday night the ‘Cats showed great resolve and scratched out a three-set win against the Bernie Lady Mules.

In JV action, the ‘Cats won in straight sets - 25-0, 25-4 - to remain perfect on the season.


The Varsity squad showed a great defensive effort in their match, pulling out 17 blocks and 66 digs in the contest. The Mules were able to pull off an overtime win in the first set, 26-28, but the ‘Cats were able to pull out victories in the next two sets - 25-23, 25-21 - to take the match.

“It was a fun, intense game for both Dexter and Bernie.  I think the fans got what they paid for!  I feel the girls played as a true team tonight, and it showed,” head coach Lauren Hutchcraft said. “They got down in the second set, and they could have lost it.  However, they dug deep and turned it around to come out with the win in that set to take us to three!  I couldn't be more proud of them.”

Brittany Harris was a dominant defensive force in the match, accounting for 12 blocks.

The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again on Monday, when they host Woodland.

“I'm expecting a good game between both squads.  They had a good group of girls that played on their JV squad last year,” Hutchcraft noted.  “I'm expecting those girls have progressed in the off-season.  Again, I'm expecting the unexpected and not counting anyone out!  Like I've told my girls, 'On any given night, anything can happen,' so be prepared.”

JV action is set to begin at 6:00 p.m., with the Varsity game immediately following.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Bearcats will hit the road tonight to face the Scott City Rams. Both squads are 2-1 on the season, with the ‘Cats coming off a loss against Sikeston and the Rams coming off a blowout victory against East Prairie.

Head coach Aaron Pixley felt his team had a great week of practice, and noted the separation his team had from last week’s tough loss with Sikeston.

“Practice has gone well. Before the huge storm yesterday, we got everything we needed to get in done,” Pixley said after Thursday’s walkthrough. “I think our kids have not forgotten the Sikeston game, but everyone is moved on - we have a big game tomorrow night against Scott City.”

“[Scott City is] big up front, they have real nice size. They’ve got two running backs that run the ball hard, their quarterback is a tall kid that throws the ball well. They have two tall receivers,” Pixley said of tonight’s opponent. “They do multiple things and they do them well - run a really solid offense over there. Defensively, they play hard up front and run to the ball well. We’re going to have to stay with our blocks and run to the ball on defense to have success.”

The ‘Cats will face another unorthodox offense this week - the Rams tend to run a lot of unbalanced sets “They do some unbalanced stuff - they use their receivers and running backs and run wings,” he said. “They’ll go to a one-back set and try to get multiple people on one side of the defense and then come back to the weak side. They do a lot of things on offense.”


The ‘Cats struggled defensively last week, giving up over 500 yards to the Bulldogs’ offense. Pixley noted after last week’s contest that the team struggled with tackling, but he feels the team has made the necessary adjustments to have success against Scott City.

“I think more than anything it’s over-pursuit, and when you dot hat, you get your body in a bad position to tackle. Who knows - its a hard game to break down if we’re good tacklers or not because we over-pursued so much and they cut back,” Pixley said. “We have to tackle better.”


“We’ve given up a lot of yards the last two games, and we have to get back to basics and make sure we wrap up and get people to the ground with good technique - also get as many people swarming to the football as we can. We have to line up right - if we line up right and wrap up, we’ll have a good shot.”


Kickoff for tonight’s contest against Scott City is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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Editor’s Note - Chase Young may be sidelined tonight due to a nagging knee injury he’s dealt with since early this summer. I spoke with Chase’s father, Marty, during practice yesterday, and he said Chase would be having tests done on his knee Monday, and is only sitting out tonight as a precautionary measure.

I would expect to see a lot more of Cody Neldon on both sides of the ball tonight in relief of Young.


Also, I-55 will be reduced from one lane from Benton to Scott City tonight - you may want to hit Highway 61 in Sikeston and go that route while you’re heading to the game tonight.


As always, if you can’t make it to the game, I’ll be Tweeting the scores and big plays of the contest from the sidelines - just keep checking back with our Facebook or Twitter page for updates!

From The Missouri Department Of Conservation

Castor River, Lake Girardeau, and Wappapello Lake seem to be your best bets for catching fish in the last weeks of the season.

SOUTHEAST REGION (573) 290-5858

    LAKES

Clearwater Lake: 78 degrees, normal, clear; crappie fair while trolling; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Council Bluff: 73 degrees, normal, clear; largemouth bass fair on topwater lures and dark colored soft plastic lures; channel catfish fair on liver and worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Cypress Lake: 75 degrees, normal, dingy; crappie fair on minnows and jigs at 5'-6' depths; bluegill and redear sunfish fair on crickets, small jigs and small pieces of worms; largemouth bass slow on spinnerbaits, jigs, and plastic worms; channel catfish slow on worms and stinkbaits. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Duck Creek:73 degrees, normal, clear; largemouth bass fair on plastic worms and topwater lures; bluegill fair on crickets and jigs; channel catfish good on worms; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Lake Girardeau: normal, clear; channel catfish fair on worms; all other species fair. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Perry County Lake: 74 degrees, muddy; all species slow. (Report made on 9/15/2011)

Robert DeLaney Lake: 76 degrees, normal, all species slow. (Report made on 9/15/2011)

Wappapello: normal, black bass good on crankbaits and plastic worms; crappie good on minnows and jigs; bluegill fair on crickets and worms along shoreline;  all other species slow.

Anglers should note the 9" minimum length regulation for crappie on Wappapello Lake. All areas around the lake are now open since the lake water level has dropped.  Call the Wappapello Lake Recreation Hotline for updates at 573-222-8139. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

   RIVERS

Black River (near Annapolis):71 degrees, low, clear; all species slow. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Castor River (above Zalma): low, clear; all species good. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

Lower Black River (Clearwater Dam): normal, dingy; black bass fair on topwater lures and minnows; white bass fair on grub jigs; channel catfish fair on live bait and cut bait; all other species slow.

There have been some instances of paddlefish being caught and hooked in the mouth while using traditional fishing methods as of late.  Paddlefish are closed to taking by any method in the Black River except from March 15 through April 30.  If a paddlefish is caught outside of those specified dates it must be released immediately. (Report made on 9/15/2011)

Mississippi (below Charleston): muddy; all species slow. (Report made on 9/15/2011)

Mississippi River (Cape Girardeau): dingy; channel catfish fair on worms and cut bait; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

St. Francis (above Wappapello): low, dingy; all species slow. (Report made on 9/14/2011)

St. Francis (below Wappapello): low, dingy; channel catfish good on stinkbait, liver and worms; flathead catfish good on live bait, small green sunfish and goldfish; all other species slow. (Report made on 9/15/2011)

By Jeff Honza, Southeast Missouri Sports Information

Game Information

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats faced a tough opponent Tuesday night in the Bearcat Event Center - the Scott City Lady Rams. The ‘Cats were able to split the contest with last year’s state champions, with the JV winning 25-9, 25-13, and the Varsity losing 20-25, 18-25.

Head coach Lauren Hutchcraft felt her team showed improved aggression at the net in the contest.

“I felt it was a pretty decent game for both teams.  I wasn't falling out of my chair getting excited by anything either one of the teams was doing, but overall it was a solid match on both teams' part,” Hutchcraft said. “My girls looked much better tonight than they did last night [against Bloomfield].  The girls were attacking the ball more aggressively tonight than they did last night, which is something we talked about before the game.”

Hannah Noe had a solid showing in the set-up department; she was able to rack up 25 assists in the contest. Lindsey Hindman also had a good performance, knocking out 12 digs, 2 kills, and was 9 for 9 from the service line.


The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again on Thursday night, when they travel to Bernie to take on the Lady Mules.

“We play Bernie on Thursday, at Bernie,” Hutchcraft noted. It should be a good game - they are always fired up and ready to play hard. They always have a huge crowd, too.”


JV action is set to get underway at 6:00 p.m., with the Varsity contest immediately following.