By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Bearcat Event Center played host to the Class 3, District 1 Tournament on Monday night, with all top seeds advancing to the semifinal round.


The Perryville Lady Pirates were given the luxury of a first-round bye with the No. 1 seed, while the district’s remaining teams were all in action Monday night.

No. 4 Kennett dropped No. 5 New Madrid in the only three-set match of the evening (25-22, 21-25, 25-17), while No. 2 Notre Dame knocked off No. 7 Doniphan in two sets (25-19, 25-11).

The Lady ‘Cats rolled to a 25-11, 25-17 win over No. 6 Fredericktown to advance in the tournament.

DHS Head coach Lauren Hutchcraft was pleased with her squad’s performance, but felt that they were lacking intensity during the match.


“The girls played well, the only thing we were really lacking was intensity and drive tonight,” she said.  “We had some things that weren't going our way or how I wanted them to, but [intensity] was the big thing.  I just want to see my team more fired up and playing together!”

Hannah Noe played a great game, nailing some big serves in the first set. The sophomore had 11 assists, 12 digs, 6 kills, 5 aces, and was 11/13 from the service line.

“Hannah Noe had some good serves in that first set.  When you're playing in a district game, serves are huge.  That's your first time to ‘attack’ the other team,” Hutchcraft continued.  “When you've got kids who are going to serve aces, those don't go unnoticed.”

The Lady ‘Cats returned starter Erika Cobb in the contest, who was out with an illness during the regular-season finale against Notre Dame. The sophomore had a solid game on the front row, driving in 7 kills, 2 blocks, and 7 digs in the match.

“Erika Cobb has contributed all season long, but in a different capacity,” Hutchcraft said.  “She played all the way around tonight, and I think she did a fine job - it was great having her back in the lineup.”


Freshman Jessica Lindsey had another outstanding performance, with 5 digs, 6 kills, 3 aces, and a perfect 12/12 from the service line.

“Jessie did do well tonight.  I love to see her play,” Hutchcraft said. “I have the most fun watching her knock the snot out of the ball when she's on front row, but she can definitely serve and handle the ball on back row, too.”

Notre Dame is the last obstacle in the Lady ‘Cats path to a district title, but it will be no easy task; the Bulldogs have dominated the district tournament for the last decade, and they already hold two wins - in the SEMO Spike Tournament and last week in the regular-season finale - over Dexter in the 2011 season.

“My mindset is we better play to win tomorrow night because they can beat this team,” Hutchcraft said. “This will be our third time to see Notre Dame this season.  The first time was in pool play in the SEMO Tournament, and the second time was last week during regular season. I told my girls they are going to have to play a whole heck-of-a lot better tomorrow night than they did tonight against Fredericktown if they want to win.  The girls will have to be mentally prepared for tomorrow night's game.”

In Tuesday night’s semifinals, the Kennett Lady Indians will face Perryville at 5:00 p.m., with Dexter facing off against Notre Dame at 6:00. The winners of those games will meet in the Class 3, District 1 championship game at 8:00 p.m.

This is a call to the Bearcat Nation to get on your computers, contact all your friends and family, and let's support one of our very own.

Dexter Bearcat Cody Stevens has been nominated by SEMO SPORTS WEB as one of the Ten best football athletes from Southeast Missouri's 35 varsity programs and we get to help pick the winner.

Click on this link for SEMOSPORTSWEB . We want to do all we can to help Cody. He's done an incredible job for the Bearcats this year and brought us a lot of fun times. Let's work hard to reward him by posting and reposting this everywhere.

So Text if you Text, Tweet if you Tweet ... or simply call your friends. Let's stack up the votes for Cody!!!

Past winners of the award are Trey Lewis of Sikeston in 2010, Juqualin Wiggins of Sikeston in 2009, Brandon Bourbon of Potosi in 2008, and Waylon Sparkman of Perryville in 2007.

This year's poll began Oct. 23 and will close when all nominees have completed the playoff season.

By Staff Writer, ShowMe Times Sports

With a championship waiting in the wings, the 8th Grade Lady Bearcat basketball team was in action tonight against the Jackson Indians in the final game of the 2011/12 Dexter Invitational Basketball Tournament. The pregame talk was this was going to be a good contest as the Lady ‘Cats would be taking on the Jackson Indians.

Jackson has a very competitive team, defeating both Cape and Cairo in the previous tournament games on Saturday. Dexter arrived to the championship match having a bye in the first round and defeating the Puxico Indians by a score of 60 to 27.

The Bearcats didn’t take long to turn the scoring machine on against the Jackson Indians, as Melissa McKuin piled up four-points in the first quarter for the ‘Cats. Dakota Reynolds nailed a three pointer and a field goal, along with MaKayla Waldner with two points, to give the Bearcats a first quarter lead of 11 to 6.

The second quarter was all about defense as the Lady Bearcats only allowed 2-points by the Indians, while they continued their scoring spree. Reynolds added another 5 points in the quarter giving Dexter a 21 to 8 lead at halftime.

Unfortunately for the Bearcats, MaKayla Waldner received a leg injury in the third quarter of the game and was temporarily sidelined. But a little ice, a little TLC and a whole lot of determination by Waldner, she re-entered the game overcoming the pain of the injury.

McKuin and Reynolds picked up the slack for the team by adding six points, while Karaline Keirsey dropped in two free throws. Jackson added six points of their own the third quarter.

But the power of the Lady Bearcats was very evident as the fourth quarter began. With Waldner back in the game and the Bearcats at full strength, the 8th Grade team began a 13 to 4 run to capture the championship of the tournament.

The Lady Bearcats continue to dominate the floor against opponents. The Jackson Indians had a deep bench and gave their best effort, but ultimately, the speed and aggressive play of the Bearcats won out in the end. These Lady ‘Cats are fun to watch and bring a lot of action to girl’s basketball.

In other tournament action, Puxico defeated Cape for a Third place trophy. In the consolation game, Sikeston beat Charleston.

Both 7th and 8th Grade Lady Bearcats will resume regular season action on Tuesday, October 25th against the Twin Rivers Royals.

By Staff Writer, ShowMe Times Sports

There is a lot riding on Thursday night’s football game at Charles “Seed” Bland Stadium.  A rematch will occur of the 2010 District Championship game between two Class 3 District 1 opponents  -  the Dexter Bearcats and the Fredericktown Blackcats. Both teams have already qualified for the playoffs, but this game determines home field advantage in the first round and who plays the #2 qualifier from District Two.

Last year, the Bearcats defeated the Blackcats 30 to 22 to capture their first district championship since 2005. Last year's game was highlighted by the Bearcats forcing eight Blackcat turnovers. The Bearcats had a very balanced attack against Fredericktown with 198 yards rushing and 177 yards passing.

Last year, the ‘Cats were led by Nate Watkins with two interceptions along with five receptions by Morgan Hedrick and three by Jake Cox. However, many key players return in this year's game as well.

Tyler Miller returns in the defensive backfield where he intercepted two passes against the Blackcats last year. The Bearcat running game returns in its entirety which was led last year by Cody Stevens (92 yards), Josh Overall (67 yards), Nick Summers (60 yards) and Alex Cliff (23 yards).

Last year’s win propelled the Bearcats on to the State Quarter Finals, while the Blackcats lost their first round game to the Park Hills Central Rebels. .

Fortunes of the two teams have taken different paths this year. This year's contest finds the state ranked Bearcats with a season record of 8 - 1 against the 4 - 5 Blackcats. Both teams have identical 2 and 0 district records.

However, the Blackcats should not be taken lightly as they put on an impressive offensive performance in a 63 to 14 defeat of the Kennett Indians this past Friday night. That win mirrored the Bearcats 68 to 20 defeat of the Indians the previous week.

Other common opponents between the two teams include St. Genevieve, which defeated Fredericktown 46 to 20 early in the 2011 season, Park Hills, which resulted in a 35 to 23 victory for the Blackcats, and New Madrid County Central which also resulted in a 36 to 14 victory for the Blackcats. Dexter defeated these three teams by 28 to 6, 37 to 27, and 53 to 7 respectively.

Another comparison can be found in the Missouri Power Ranking System which ranks Frdericktown at 39.75 and Dexter at 78.08. Fredericktown’s strength of schedule is 44.14 compared to the Bearcats at 56.07.

According to Missouri Power Ranking Systems, Dexter is ranked number four in the state behind traditional powerhouse districts of Cassville, Osage and Maryville.

Thursday night’s game should be an entertaining matchup with perhaps an extra motivational incentive for the Blackcats to avenge last year's championship loss.

Be sure to be on hand at Charles “Seed” Bland Stadium as the district championship will be decided this Thursday night. Stadium announcer, Aaron Mathis, will keep you informed of the St. Louis Cardinals progress in Game 7 of the World Series or bring your headphones to listen while you watch the Dexter Bearcats square off against the Fredericktown Blackcats.

If you can’t make the game, be sure to tune in to KDEX radio on FM 102.3, where Rob Mayer, Andrew Steuver and Jason Comfort will bring to you the action of the Bearcats. You can also tune in to Channel 21 on YHC-TV where Ed Gargas and Jeff Bush will bring you play by play action of the ‘Cats.

Joplin, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University football team played a tough game against Missouri Southern on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately came up short, losing the game 68-28. The Bearcats continue to put up points, but came up short in the shootout.

The Bearcats found themselves down 7-0 early in the first quarter until quarterback Dan Connors had a nice 8 yard touchdown run to pull even with the Lions 7-7. Missouri Southern went on to score 23 straight points, to take a 30-7 lead halfway through the second quarter.

However, the Bearcats wouldn't go away, and turned to Connors to air it out to pull them back. With 7:23 left in the second quarter, Connors hit Charles Johnson with a nice 52 yard pass, resulting in Johnson breaking a tackle and pulling SBU within 16 at 30-14.

The Southwest Baptist defense came up big with a key interception, and blocked field goal, leading to another Bearcat score. After the blocked field goal, Connors hit Marcus Sullivan with a 28 yard pass down the sideline for another SBU touchdown, bringing the score to 30-21. Missouri Southern would add a field goal before the half ended, giving Missouri Southern a 33-21 halftime lead.

After three Missouri Southern scores in the third quarter, the Bearcats found themselves down 54-21. After forcing the Lions to punt, Clayton Davis picked up the poor punt and ran it back 35 yards for a Bearcat touchdown, making the score 54-28. However, Missouri Southern returned the following kickoff for a touchdown, extending their lead to 61-28. The Lions would ultimately go on to win the game 68-28.

The Bearcat offense was lead by Connors who was 15-23 for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns, and also a rushing touchdown. Charles Johnson was once again the leading receiver, pulling in 4 receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown. Thad Everson was the leading rusher for the Bearcats, collecting 42 yards on 11 carries. On the defensive side of the ball, Zach Moore was once again the leading tackler for the Bearcats with 9 tackles and 1 interception, while Austin Otwell also recorded 9 tackles.

The Bearcats will be back in action next Saturday, October 29, when they host Missouri Western for SBU Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. from Plaster Stadium.

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Southwest Baptist University is a four-year evangelical Christian university that was established in 1878. The main campus is located about 30 minutes north of Springfield, Missouri, in Bolivar, a town of approximately 10,000 people.

DHS alum Glen Johnson is a defensive lineman for the Bearcats.

For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.