By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Heading in to Thursday night’s showdown with the Sikeston Bulldogs, one of the Lady Bearcats biggest concerns was beating Sikeston’s full-court press. After 32 minutes on the hardwood at the Bearcat Event Center, it proved to be a non-issue as the Lady ‘Cats rolled to a 69-34 victory.

The Lady ‘Cats have been working on their full-court press for the last several games, and it’s really starting to pay dividends for the young team; the 35-point win has been the narrowest margin of victory during LBB’s now three-game win streak.

“[Sikeston is] known for their pressure full-court. I thought our girls handed that extremely well tonight,” head coach Chad Allen said. “They looked aggressive and really attacked the middle. I thought we did a great job of attacking them.”

“That’s what we really wanted to do coming into this game; we wanted to put as much pressure on them as possible and really try to push the ball up the floor,” he continued. “I thought our girls did a tremendous job of doing that”

The Lady Bearcat offense continues to impress, with Alison Jarrell, Hannah Noe, and Brittany Harris all in double figures. Harris (22 points, 14 boards) and Noe (16 points, 10 assists) both had double-doubles for the second straight game. On the defensive end, Taylor Owens had a great game off the bench with 5 steals.

“I thought all the girls did a really good job; not just Brittany,” Allen said. “All of them really contributed throughout the whole game.”

The Lady ‘Cats took control of the game early, with a quick 8-0 run to jump out to an 11-3 lead with just over 2:00 left in the first. Queshia Howard drained a deep three for the Bulldogs to cut LBB’s lead to 11-8 after the first.

Erica Cobb (7 points, 7 boards) drained a three to open the second quarter; Jarrell knocked down two threes in the frame to cap off a 25 point effort in the second.

Sikeston came out of the locker room with much more intensity in the second half; the Bulldogs forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter. Harris and Paige Patterson were both able to block a shot during the frame to help the Lady ‘Cats to a commanding 50-21 lead after the third.

The Bearcats were able to put up 19 points in the fourth to take a 69-34 win, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Keyonna Blisset and Jarrell had a nasty collision while fighting for a rebound with just over two minutes left in the contest; Jarrell left the game with what appeared to be a rib injury.


Jarrell’s injury potentially leaves the Lady ‘Cats already short bench at 6 players, as Katelynn Frazier was out of the contest after a death in her family.

“The bench is definitely getting a little short now,” Allen said. “Our thoughts and prayers are definitely with Katelynn Frazier and her family, and also Alison Jarrell getting hurt there at the end. We don’t know what the diagnosis will be yet, but it doesn’t look good. Hopefully it will turn out better than it looks.”

With the victory, the Lady ‘Cats move to 6-2 on the season, and have picked up their second-straight victory against a District opponent.

“Its definitely a big battle between us; we’re district rivals now,” Allen said of the Bulldogs. “They’ve gotten to that point now in talks of being one of the best in the district too. They’re a good team, and well coached; I’m proud that our girls came and got after it tonight.”

In the JV contest, Katie Reiker led the ‘Cats with 24 points. The JV squad held the Bulldogs to single-digit scores in every quarter, and picked up a big 46-21 victory.


The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again on Saturday morning when they open the Lady Royals Christmas Classic against the Malden Green Wave; the Lady ‘Cats grabbed the No. 1 seed in the 16 team tournament earlier this week.

“They’re definitely down; I know their coach has been really working hard with them,” Allen said of the Wave. “We’re probably going to have to bring someone up off the JV to give us a little more depth; hopefully we’ll come out there and play our game and we’ll get after it.”

Tipoff is set for 9:00 a.m. from Twin Rivers High School.

ShowMe Scoreboard 12.16.2011

 Games played Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011

High School Girls

• Dexter 69, Sikeston 34 (varsity)
• Dexter 44, Sikeston 29 (JV)
• Jackson 43, Notre Dame 33
• Delta 56, Charleston 52
• Cape Central 44. Jefferson 34
• Kennett 62, Senath-Hornersville 34

High School Boys 

• Holcomb 43, Hayti 36
• East Carter County 60, Cooter 59
• Leopold 69, St. Vincent 66
• Doniphan 81, New Madrid 65
• Risco 98, Gideon 62
• Gosnell 79, Clarkton 62
• Senath-Hornersville 42, Naylor 35

NCAA Men

• Mizzou 104, Kennesaw State 67
• Wisconsin 55, Savannah St 33
• Akron 87, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 64
• Murray State 89, Lipscomb 65

NCAA Women

• Arkansas State 58,  USC 56
• UC Riverside 70, Idaho 57
• Grambling State 89, Oral Roberts 80

Tonight

Area High School

• Dexter at Richland (6 p.m. varsity, followed by 2 quarters junior varsity)
• Scott City at Advance
• Kelly at Woodland
• Sikeston at Notre Dame
• Bloomfield at Chaffee
• Farmington at Cape Central
• Oran at Delta

NCAA Women

• William Woods Vs Lindenwood (MidAmerica Nazarene University Classic), 5 p.m.
• Georgia Tech vs Georgia State
• LSU vs McNeese State
• Ole Miss vs Lipscomb
• Southern Miss vs. Mississippi State

 To report local scores to the ShowMe Times, please email news@showmetimes.com or leave a message at 573-624-7469 (624-SHOW)

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

There have been a few updates on the Bearcat Basketball team recently.

The Boys game Friday (Dec. 16) at Richland, which was previously reported as Varsity-only, will have two quarters of JV play. The Varsity contest is set to tip at 6:00 p.m., with the two quarters of JV played at the conclusion of the Varsity game.

The Boys are also seeded No. 5 in the Bloomfield Christmas tournament; the 2010 Champion Kennett Indians, who snubbed Dexter in the title game, grabbed the No. 1 seed. The Bearcats will face off against No. 12 South Pemiscot on Monday, December 26 at 2:30 p.m.

The Lady Bearcats are set to face the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs in a District clash tonight at the Bearcat Event Center; the evening is set to tip at 6:00 for the JV and the Varsity immediately following.

LBB grabbed the No. 1 seed in the Lady Royals Christmas Classic, played at Twin Rivers High School.


The Lady ‘Cats will open the tournament against the No. 16 Malden Green Wave on Saturday (Dec. 17) at 9:00 a.m.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 12.15.2011

No scores from Wednesday, 12.12.2011

Tonight’s Schedule

•  Lady Bearcat Basketball vs. Sikeston, 6 p.m. @ the BEC

Friday

• The Dexter Bearcats will face county rival Richland Rebels at Richland on Friday, Dec. 16. The Varsity game will begin at 6 p.m. followed by two quarters of JV action.
• Bearcat wrestlers will begin action in The Tiger Classic in Cape Girardeau.

NCAA Women

• Arkansas State vs. USC, 8:05 p.m. @ Jonesboro

NCAA Men

• Mizzou vs. Kennesaw State, 8 p.m. @ Mizzou Arena
• Lipsomb vs Murray State

 

POPLAR BLUFF - Shooting was the theme of the night in Tuesday’s game between the Three Rivers Lady Raiders and Arkansas Baptist.

For Three Rivers, it was a lack of it. For the Lady Buffaloes, it was getting it at the right time.

The Lady Raiders shot just 39 percent (21-of-54) from the field – and just 26 percent (five-for-19) in the first half – and also struggled at the free-throw line (20-of-40), while Arkansas Baptist hit four 3-pointers as part of a game-changing 14-3 run late in the game to rally for a 71-65 win at the Bess Activity Center.

“Free throws. Free throws. Free throws,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. “And f we make a few more free throws and commit a few less turnovers, we win. You can’t write that any other way.”

Three Rivers (6-5) took a 45-42 lead on Carolyn Overton’s free throws with 9:46 to go, but the Lady Buffaloes connected on four treys – the first two by Jerrica Walls – as part of a 14-3 spurt, taking a 56-48 lead on Caitlyn Williams’s triple with just under five and a half minutes to go.

“We went to a triangle-and-two defense trying to shut that down, then someone else started making them,” said Walk. “It was just pick your poison. Sometimes as coaching goes, you overcoach instead of letting the game happen.”

The Lady Raiders could get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

After a dismal start that saw Three Rivers make just five baskets in the first half and miss 11 of its 19 shots from the foul line, back-to-back baskets by Carolyn Overton ignited a 19-5 run as the Lady Raiders took a 37-31 lead on Candace Miller’s free throws with 13:55 to go.

However, Arkansas Baptist began to chip away, cutting the lead to 43-42 on Gabby Jenkins’s free throw with 9:50 before going on its game-turning run.

Overton paced Three Rivers with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Whitney Mills added 13 points and Abbie Warren finished with 10.

“We got beat but the kids battled all the way through,” Walk said. “That is something to build on. And they’re the most athletic team we’ll play all year.”

Cassie Vaughn and Ashley Qualls led the Lady Buffaloes with 12 points apiece.

The Lady Raiders are off until January 3, when they travel to Williams Baptist for a rematch of the season opener.

For more information on everything Three Rivers Athletics, make sure to visit RaidersAthletics.com!