By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BLOOMFIELD - The Dexter Bearcats took the floor against the South Pemiscot Bulldogs in their first contest since a close loss against the Scott City Rams. The Bearcats’ struggles from the free-throw line continued, but the ‘Cats were still able to come up with a 56-38 victory in the opening round of the 55th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

The ‘Cats opened up a quick 8-2 lead, aided by a three from Tyler Miller, but the Bulldogs fought back within four points late in the frame. The Bulldogs dominated the boards throughout the first half, and were aided by terrible inside shooting by the Bearcats. The ‘Cats were able to hang on to a two point, 12-10 lead after the opening quarter of play.

Miller, Jordan Fitts, and Brad Potts all recorded steals in the second quarter to help spark a 7-0 run. A three from South Pem’s Jacob Trammel helped get the Bulldogs within six at the 4:00 mark. The Bulldogs would take a brief 21-20 lead at the 2:00 mark on a Collin Gilmore layup, but Jake Lee quickly tied the game when he hit one of two form the charity stripe. Fitts picked up another steal and quick bucket on the ensuing inbounds pass to give the Bearcats a 23-21 lead at the half.

South Pemiscot went on a 4-0 run to open the second half before a Miller 15-footer tied the contest at 25. The Bulldogs took a 27-25 lead at the 5:00 mark; Fitts gave the ‘Cats a one point lead with a deep trey, but Contrell Johnson quickly answered with a three of his own. Miller completed a three-point play to put the ‘Cats back out in front. Dexter held a 36-30 lead at the end of the third.

Cody Neldon picked off the opening inbounds pass of the fourth quarter and turned it into a quick basket for the Bearcats. After a technical foul was called on Lee early in the fourth, the Bulldogs were able to convert one of the two free throws and Trammel added a three on the ensuing possession to cut Dexter’s lead to 40-34 at the 6:40 mark. Miller picked up the Bearcat ‘D’ late in the fourth, and recorded two blocks and a steal, as well as two three pointers, to help push the ‘Cats to a 56-38 victory.


DHS Head Coach Rob Nichols was unavailable for comments after the contest.

Miller led the Bearcats with 18 points in the contest, while Fitts had 13. The ‘Cats continue to struggle from the charity stripe, and only made 12 of 25 free throws.

Gilmore paced the Bulldogs with 10 points; Seth Harris added 7.

The Bearcats will move on to face the No. 4 Holcomb Hornets at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday in the Championship Bracket.


The Bulldogs will move on to face No. 13 Malden in the Consolation Bracket; tip is set for 9:00 a.m.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

With Christmas upon us, the minds of players and coaches from area high schools all shift to the 55th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Stoddard County will be well-represented in the tournament, with the Richland Rebels, Bloomfield Wildcats, Bernie Mules, Puxico Indians, and Dexter Bearcats all competing in the four-day basketball extravaganza.

The Bearcats were given the No. 5 seed in the tournament. The ‘Cats are currently 1-5, after opening the season with a Murderer’s Row of a schedule. The ‘Cats have dropped two games to the defending Class 4 State Champion Sikeston Bulldogs, as well as two two games against Jackson and one against Charleston. The Bearcats’ most recent 65-62 loss against the Scott City Rams could have just as easily been a win for the team.


The ‘Cats open the tournament against No. 12 South Pemiscot on Dec. 26 at 2:30 p.m.

The Bernie Mules, fresh off their second-straight Show-Me Showdown Final Four appearance, were given the No. 6 seed and sport a 6-1 record. The Mules’ lone loss of the 2011-2012 season came against Holcomb in the semifinals of the Bernie Invitational Tournament.


The Mules will open against No. 11 Van Buren at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

The Bloomfield Wildcats earned the No. 7 seed with a 3-2 record. The host Wildcats two losses came against Holcomb and the Bernie Mules, and they open the tournament against No. 10 Saxony Lutheran at 5:00 p.m. Monday.

The Puxico Indians were given the No. 9 seed with a 3-2 record and will open the tournament against the No. 8 Hayti Indians on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the final contest of the opening day.

The Richland Rebels, with a 1-5 record thus far in the 2011-2012 campaign, was given the No. 16 seed.

The Rebels will open the tournament on Dec. 26 at 9:00 a.m. when they face off against the No. 1 Kennett Indians, who look to three-peat after knocking off the Bearcats in last year’s title game.

ShowMe Times sports editor Andrew Cato will be at all 26 games, and you can follow live score updates via our Facebook or Twitter pages. There will also be a new menu area, under the Sports tab, where you can find recaps of all 26 games.


For your convenience, Tournament Brackets can be downloaded and printed out here.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 12.23.2011

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BROSELEY - The stage was set for what hoped to be a close contest between two of the best girls basketball programs in the area in the finals of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic. The Lady ‘Cats, who had won their previous three games in the tournament by an average of 56 points, looked to hand the Kennett Lady Indians their first loss of the season. After four quarters of play, the Lady Bearcats took home first place with a 69-45 victory over the Tribe.

“I was really proud of our girls. They were ready for this game tonight, and really got off to a great start. We got that 28-10 lead during the first quarter, and that really set the tone,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said. “Kennett is well-coached, and I thought they did a great job in the second quarter of making their run. Good teams will eventually make a run as well, and that’s what they did. We tried to get our girls to keep pressuring the ball, and sooner or later they would wear down, and that’s what we did in the second half.”

The ‘Cats jumped out to a 28-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Indians held the ‘Cats to only 10 points in the second quarter to bring the score to 38-23 at the half.

”[Kennett] ended up playing their game and slowing it down [in the second quarter],” Allen said of the Tribe. “We were taking too many perimeter shots and not hitting. I think we shot close to 90% in the first quarter, but we couldn’t get any in during the second.”

“You’ve gotta make shots to get in your press, and I think that was the difference in the game. They slowed things down in the second and worked the ball inside to Wynne - she’s really tough inside, and she had a big night for them.”

The Indians came out in the second half and battled back within 11 points midway through the third quarter, and the two squads traded buckets until the 1:00 mark of the third, when the ‘Cats quickly rattled off six points to take a 51-35 lead after the third.

“We just told the girls to keep on pressuring and that sooner or later they would break down, and then we would make our run,” Allen said. “I knew we would eventually make a run, and around the middle of the third you could tell [Kennett was] getting pretty tired.”


The Lady ‘Cats outscored Kennett in the fourth - 18-10 - to seal the 69-45 victory and the first-place trophy in the tournament. Allen noted the pressure his team faced as the number one seed in the tournament, but said he was proud of their consistent effort throughout their games.

“There’s always pressure involved, especially when you get to the championship game. I thought our girls handed that pressure extremely well, coming out with our great start, and I really think that made a difference tonight,” he said. “The girls are definitely excited to get this tournament win; I know they didn’t show a whole lot of emotion, but I’m proud of how they played and competed this week. I hope they have a good break and get rested and ready to get back in the gym and start working hard again.”


The Lady ‘Cats were well-represented on the All-Tournament team, with Brittany Harris, Paige Patterson, and Hannah Noe all earning slots on the squad. Audrey Wynne and Darby Sparks of Kennett, Kasuela Cooper of Charleston, Lexi Morris of Clearwater, Kayla Maupin and Brooke Sheppard of Neelyville, Benesha Childress of New Madrid, and Tori Cole and Lexi Stockton of Twin Rivers also made the team.

The Lady Bearcats will be back in action again on Monday, January 2, when they travel north to face off against Farmington.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BROSELEY - It was a tale of two halves in the semifinal matchup of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic between the Lady Bearcats and Neelyville Lady Tigers. The Lady ‘Cats struggled shooting the ball early - they flirted with 25% from the floor in the first half - but an offensive explosion in the second half was enough to lift the No. 1 Lady ‘Cats to a 78-47 win over No. 4 Neelyville.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well in the first half. I don’t know what our percentage was, but it definitely wasn’t the best shooting game we’ve had in the first half,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. “In the second half, I thought we came out and shot the ball a lot better - it picked our overall percentage up quite a bit. I thought our girls basically wore down Neelyville. You could tell in the second half when we jumped on them early that they were definitely tired.”

The Bearcats’ offensive surge in the early second half was aided by a 14 point effort in the third quarter from Hannah Noe, who knocked down six trey’s and had 30 points in the contest. It was the Lady ‘Cats’ third game without the services of Alison Jarrell, who is still dealing with bruised ribs from the Dec. 15 contest against Sikeston.


“With having Alison out right now, in a way, it may help us because some girls will have to step up,” Allen said of the Bearcats‘ three-point ace. “Hannah Noe did that tonight - I believe she had 30 points.”

The Tigers did a good job of slowing down Dexter’s one-two punch of Paige Patterson and Brittany Harris. The duo combined for just 19 points in the contest.

“Neelyville did a really good job in their inside defense in the first half. They really bumped Paige and Brittany around in there, and made it tough for us to get any inside position at all,” Allen continued. “Hannah stepped up and knocked down a lot of shots for us and it made the difference in the game.”

Neelyville did a good job of breaking up the the Lady Bearcats’ press early, but Allen’s squad made some adjustments at halftime and eventually won the turnover battle by a 21-6 margin.

“That’s what we want to try to do with teams this year; we want to pressure full court, wear them down, and make conditioning a factor. It definitely paid off tonight,” Allen said. “I didn’t feel like we were pressuring the ball very well in the first half, and they were throwing it over the top. I thought we did a much better job of pressuring the ball up front in our full-court press in the second half, and we ended up getting some steals and converting those steals into points.”

The Lady ‘Cats have been able to keep on the winner’s side of the bracket for the second straight year, and again have done it with an extremely young team.


Last year, the Lady ‘Cats took home third place with a team that started three freshman and two sophomores, and had just one senior on the bench. This year, Dexter’s roster consists of six sophomores and two juniors, but the team is playing like a squad chock-full of veteran leadership.

“Our girls were definitely extremely young last year, and got a lot of varsity experience,” Allen said. “You could tell that, with a little age, an extra year, and more experience, that these girls are really starting to go to the next level. Hopefully we’ll keep getting better as this year goes.”


The No. 1 Lady Bearcats will face off against the No. 2 Kennett Indians in the tournament finals. The Tribe advanced to their second-straight championship game with a 53-34 win over the No. 6 NMCC Eagles, who the Lady ‘Cats beat 94-20 when they met earlier in the season.


Tipoff for the championship game of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic is set for tonight at 7:30 p.m.