By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Class 3, District 1 Volleyball tournament carried on with three games on Tuesday evening at the Bearcat Event Center. In the two semifinal matches, the No. 1 Perryville Lady Pirates faced off against the No. 4 Kennett Indians, while Notre Dame faced off against host Dexter in a No. 2/No. 3 matchup.

The Lady Pirates breezed through Kennett in two sets, winning 25-17, 25-12, and advancing to the District Championship game.


In the second semifinal game, the Lady ‘Cats continued their struggles against Notre Dame, and fell in two sets, 15-25, 16-15, despite missing only 2 serves in the contest - Dexter’s Achilles' heel in the regular-season finale.

Coach Lauren Hutchcraft didn’t feel her squad played up to their potential during the season-ending loss.

“I always feel like we can play better.  I still don't feel like they played up to their potential, but I can't change what happened on the court tonight,” she said.  “I don't think us not missing as many serves had any affect on the game, to be honest.”

Erika Cobb had a solid performance for the Lady ‘Cats, with 5 digs, 4 kills, 3 aces, and 7/8 serves. Hannah Noe continued her excellent play, with 6 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill, 1 block, and 6/7 serves.


Hutchcraft played some of her younger players during the second set - Alyssa Spear and Madison McGowan - during the second set of the match in an effort to ‘switch it up’ against the Bulldogs.

  “I played some of those younger kids because I thought they could help us out,” Hutchcraft said.  “This was our third time playing Notre Dame and I was STILL getting the same results with the same thing, I felt I had to make a change if I wanted to try to win.”

 With the loss, the Lady ‘Cats end the season with a 19-10-2 record, with only four of their losses coming in the regular season. The squad loses four seniors - Lindsey Hindman, McKenzie Mitchell, Erika Mouser, and Lauren Ward.

“Well, since I'm on my second year, I was fortunate to have them two of their four years in high school,” Hutchcraft said.  “They provided me with many memories and contributed to the team in many different capacities and roles.  They had a very good season this year, and they should all be proud seeing as to how they contributed a lot this season to the team.”

  Overall, Hutchcraft says she has a good feeling heading into next season with all the young talent she has, and she commended her girls’ performance during the season, both on and off the court.

“This was a fun and exciting season.  We started doing volleyball stuff the first weekend in June and went non-stop,” she said.  “The girls only lost 4 regular season games, so they should be very proud of themselves.  Most of these kids choose to give up their time in the summer and school year to be part of a team.  I commend these girls for their hard work in the classroom at school, every day at practice, and every night they had games.  It's not easy being an athlete!”


“As a coach and teacher, I can only hope that my girls went away with learning what it truly means to make a commitment to their team, learned how to work together to accomplish a goal, and learned what hard work actually is,” she continued. “There are many lessons to be learned when girls choose to be part of a team in high school, and I hope they learned something other than to not make me mad or I might break a clipboard!”


The seeds held true in the District Championship game, with Perryville downing Notre Dame in two sets, 25-13 and 25-22. The Lady Pirates advance to the State playoffs, and will be in action again on October 29, when they face off against the winner of tonight’s District 3 Chapmionship between Lutheran South and Bishop DuBourg.

The T S Hill Middle School boy's basketball team brought their action home Tuesday night for the 2011 season home opener against the Advance Hornets. A large crowd was on hand to pack the gymnasium to watch the ‘Cats in action.

The seventh grade team led off the night with a heart pounding, overtime loss to the Hornets. A big 2nd quarter by Advance gave the Hornets a commanding lead at halftime of 23 to 9 over the ‘Cats.

 However,  the Bearcats made up ground on the Hornets in the 3rd quarter outscoring Advance by 5 points, 16 to 11. They then turned on the guns in the final quarter making 12 to 0 run to lead the game by a score of 37 to 34 with only seconds remaining in the contest.

But there was one last chance for the Advance Hornets. Inbounding the ball from near mid court, Advance delivered the ball into the hands of #22 Preston Wuebker. With a last ditch effort, Wuebker sailed the ball from well beyond the three point line to bank the shot in “Good” to tie the game 37 all.

In overtime, the Bearcats could not overcome the momentum of the Hornets. Brandon Sokolowski made an old fashioned three-point play to gain the lead. Jason Jarrell answered with 2 points with 20 seconds remaining but it wasn’t enough. The Bearcats fell to the Advance Hornets by a score of 42 to 39.

Jason Jarrell dominated the court putting in 25 of the Bearcat points. Jarrell is extremely smooth on the court playing excellent defense, as well as a strong rebounder for the ‘Cats. He was followed in scoring by Zach Potts and Riley Mason, both with 4 points. Bryce Simmons contributed from the defensive side of the court, making a timely steal of the ball to set Potts up for a free throw late in the game.

In eight grade action, the Bearcats jumped out to a first quarter 11-point lead on the Hornets and never looked back from there. It was a good opportunity for the coaching staff to get time for their entire team, as nearly every Bearcat put points on the board in the contest.

Four Bearcats put up strong numbers with Ethan Flowers leading all scorers with 11-points on the night. He was followed by Cole Renken with 9, Austin Chesser and Chandler Young both with 8 points.

With the scoring so evenly spread, the highlight of the game was the strong defensive effort of the 8th Grade ‘Cats. It was an overall team effort during all four quarters of the game.

The Middle School Bearcats will be in action this Friday again taking on the Bernie Mules. Game time will begin at 6:00 PM in Bernie.

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.