By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

On Thursday night, the Dexter Bearcats looked like a completely different team than the one on the court during the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament; the ‘fire’ and intensity that were there when the ‘Cats nearly upset Kennett and played the Doniphan Dons within seven points were long gone, replaced with a lackluster performance devoid of emotion.

The Bulldogs of Notre Dame took advantage of the Bearcats’ mistakes in their first contest of the new year; the Bulldogs forced 14 Bearcat turnovers on their way to an 81-53 victory at the Bearcat Event Center.

“We didn’t play with very much energy, we didn’t play with very much passion. We came out flat. Notre Dame looked a little flat too, but they picked up as the game went on,” DHS head coach Rob Nichols said after an extended post-game talk with his team. “We just turned it over and never really would attack their press - we got what we deserved tonight.”

“ It was definitely a letdown from our effort in the Christmas tournament - I didn’t see that fire, energy, or effort tonight,” he added.

Both teams played a sloppy first quarter; the Bearcats struggled against Notre Dame’s press and missed several easy layups, while the Bulldog offense was only able to generate 14 points, their lowest total of the night.

After trailing 14-7 at the end of the first - and a nearly ten minute delay due to technical difficulties with the scoreboard - the Bearcats were able to cut the Bulldog lead to just five points at the six minute mark. Following a quick timeout, the Bulldogs proceeded on a 16-5 run, aided by several Bearcat turnovers.

“They got some quick turnover conversions off their press to open the second quarter. Joe Siebert really had a good game - that was probably his season high right there. He shot it well, [Nathan] Meystedt played well,” Nichols commented. “We changed defenses back and forth, but couldn’t get stops in anything tonight, but a lot of their offense came from our turnovers.”

A trey from D.J. Dowdy and layup from Cody Neldon brought the score to 36-23 at the half.

The Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to open the third quarter before a layup from Tyler Miller at the 4:45 mark. Jonathan Lynch buried a three for the Bulldogs, but was quickly answered by Dowdy on the next possession. A buzzer-beating jumper from Meystedt brought the score to 60-38 in favor of the Bulldogs.

A Jake Lee layup early in the fourth quarter pulled the Bearcats within 20 points, but the Bulldog offense kept pushing ahead and closed the door on the ‘Cats with a pair of threes from Siebert midway through the third. Lee completed a three-point play at the 2:00 mark, but the Bulldogs still took home the 81-53 victory.

The JV Bearcats also struggled against the Bulldogs; playing Dowdy down for a few quarters wasn’t enough to stop the Bulldogs from handing the young ‘Cats a 66-32 beating.

Due to MSHSAA regulations, Dowdy only played two quarters in the JV contest, but still paced the Bearcats with 12 points. Devin Hampton, Stevie Payne, and Nick Noble added six apiece.

The Bearcats will be in action again on Friday night, when they travel to Marble Hill to face the Woodland Cardinals in the second SCAA contest of the season; the 'Cats opened SCAA play with a blowout victory - also their first of three thus far in the season - over the Richland Rebels.

“If we play like this tomorrow night, we’ll have our hands full with Woodland,” Nichols said. “Anytime we play in the county, we have a big target on our backs - those teams really want to beat us. We’ll get a good effort out of Woodland; they’ll play hard, and if we don’t come out with a lot of intensity and play well, we’re going to have a very tough time getting a win.”

Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.

Jordan Fitts puts in a layup while his teammates go through a drill behind him during a practice this week at the Bearcat Event Center. After an unusual Tuesday night off, the Bearcats were hard at work during a practice preparing for a game Thursday evening (tonight) when they take on the Notre Dame bulldogs from Cape Girardeau. Tonight will be the Bearcats'  first time game since the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. Tipoff is set for 6  p.m. tonight at the BEC. (SMT Photo by Andrew Cato)

EASTON, Pa. - In a game that featured 10 ties and 15 lead changes, Penn outlasted Lafayette 78-73 on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center. Jim Mower's 20 points and Ryan Willen's second double-double of the season were not enough for the Leopards, who lost their third consecutive game.

Willen finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds as he and Mower each were a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line, part of an 18-for-20 team effort from the stripe.

Penn took a 13-7 lead out of the gate prior to Lafayette scoring seven straight points to take a 14-13 lead at 10:45. The spurt included a lay-in in traffic by Les Smith and a three-point play by Willen on a jumper from just inside the arc. Zack Rosen's trey ended the mini-run and put the Quakers back ahead 16-14 with 10:13 showing.

A backdoor feed from Smith to Mower and his reverse lay-in pulled Lafayette within one at 20-19 before Rosen scored five consecutive points to put the Quakers up 25-19 at the 8:44 mark. Steve Rennard's steal and layup gave Penn its largest first-half lead (27-19). Five free throws from Mower, who scored 10 in the first 20 minutes, cut the deficit to three with just under five minutes remaining in the half. Rosen led all first-half scorers with 13 points.

Penn's Tyler Bernardini knocked down two three's surrounding Joey Ptasinski's triple and Penn held a 33-27 lead with 2:58 on the first-half clock. Bernardini was one of four players in dopuble figures, finishing with 17.

Lafayette ripped off a 9-0 run to end the half sparked by Seth Hinrichs' top of the key long ball and back-to-back three's from Ptasinski, giving Lafayette a 36-33 halftime advantage.

The visitors scored the first six out of the break to go up 39-36 but then Lafayette went on an 11-2 run, forcing a Penn timeout 4:09 into the second half. Willen connected on two corner threes to ignite the stretch, while Mower netted the next five on a baseline jumper and wing three putting Lafayette up 47-41.

Fourteen of the next 16 points came from the free throw line, 11 from the visitors, tying the score at 52. Both teams reached the bonus at the 13:44 mark of the half.

Lafayette regained the lead 54-52 on Willen's off balance bucket in the lane, but Miles Cartwright hit a corner three on the next Penn possession to go back up 55-54 at 9:10. Dan Trist then used a spin move and pump fake for two as Lafayette went back in front by one, 56-55.

The teams traded baskets until Rosen's three-pointer broke the 59-59 deadlock.Rosen netted a game-high 24 on four three-pointers and added four assists that made him Penn's all-time assist leader, surpassing his head coach Jerome Allen.

Two Rob Delaney free throws cut it to one at 6:04 when both teams were in the double-bonus. Consecutive Rob Belcore layups gave the Quakers a five-point edge before two successful trips to the line for Willen made it 66-65 at 4:17. Two three's from Bernardini and Cartwright provided Penn its biggest lead since the 6:02 mark of the opening half.

Trailing 72-65 with the shot clock at two, Mower rattled home a fadeaway corner three to close the gap to four with 1:55 remaining. A Penn traveling violation gave the ball back to Lafayette with 44 seconds to play and Nick Petkovich drained a three to cut the deficit to 72-71 with 29.1 on the clock.

Two free throws from Rosen, a quick Delaney layup and two more Rosen freebies made the score 76-73 with 28 seconds left. Mower misfired on two contested three-point attempts on the final possession as Lafayette dropped its third consecutive game.

Lafayette opens Patriot League play at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Navy. The game can be seen on GoLeopards.com.

NOTES: Lafayette shot 18-of-20 (90%) from the line, its best effort of the season. Freshman Dan Trist started his fifth game of the season, scoring seven points in 18 minutes.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.05.2012

Games played Wednesday, January 4, 2012

High School Girls

Delta New Year’s Tournament

• St. Vincent 42, Delta 35
• Meadow Heights 55, Woodland 40
• Scott County Central 57, Chaffee 38

NCAA Men

• Penn, 78, Lafayette 73
• Temple 78, Duke 73
• Kansas 67, Kansas State 49
• Georgetown 73, Marquette 70
• Murray State 76. E Kentucky 67
• Memphis 69. Tennessee 51
• Saint Louis 72, Dayton 79
• Illinois State 68, Missouri State 60 

NCAA Women

• Baylor 90, Missouri 46
• Notre Dame 74, Seton Hall 36

Tonight

• Dexter vs Notre Dame at the BEC
• Advance @ Bernie
• Henderson State (Women)) vs Southwestern Oklahoma
• Missouri S&T (Women) at University of Southern Indiana
• SEMO (Men) at UT Martin

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BROSELEY - The Twin Rivers Royals played host to the Bernie Mules on Tuesday night . Despite a sloppy second half, the Mules were able to slow down Michael Snider and the Royals to take the 61-52 victory.

Both teams were in their first games since the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament. The Mules were able to bring home fifth place, while the Royals were eliminated in the consolation semifinals.


The one-two punch of Matt Eaves and David Baker paced the Mules with 20 and 17 respective points, while Sam Turner added 14 points.

“It was kind of the tale of two halves for us. We played pretty well in the first half and not very well in the second,” Bernie head coach Brad Botsch said. “When our group is focused, driven, and passionate, we compete very well. We just need to find consistency for four quarters and earn a complete win.”

The Mules are heading into the heart of their conference schedule in the coming weeks, and Botsch noted the difficult games looming on the horizon.

“We have 4 conference games in a row now with Advance, Dexter, Bloomfield, and Puxico,” he continued, “and we will need a great amount of focus and buy-in from our kids to win them. Hopefully, we’ll do what we need to do in this stretch and put together a solid run.”

In JV action, the Mules were able to down the Royals with a 69-30 final score.

The Mules will be in action again on Thursday night, when they return home to face the Advance Hornets. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m.

Photo Above:
David Baker puts up a shot against a Portageville defender during the second round of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament - SMT File photo by Andrew Cato.