By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

PARK HILLS - Between the early-morning bus time and the long drive North, the Bearcat Wrestlers had a long day on their hands Saturday at the 12th Annual Central Invitational Tournament.

The early morning didn’t affect the wrestlers, as every member of the team finished at .500 or above and the squad took home second-place overall in the tournament.

“The boys did an excellent job today. Having five varsity wrestlers out for one reason or another, we definitely showed strength in our numbers,” head coach Rick Schwab said. “The second place trophy is Dexter's first in well over a decade. Our boys were very focused and knew the opportunity they had in front of them.”

The Bearcats opened the day with a 78-6 routing of the Festus Tigers, and knocked off St. Mary’s with a 60-15 score to advance to the Championship Bracket.

Dexter defeated regional rival NMCC 60-24 in the opening round of the championship bracket, and knocked off DeSoto 51-30 in the semifinals.

The Bearcats moved on to face the Hillsboro Hawks for the tournament championship, but the Hawks were able to squeak by the Bearcats with a 42-34 advantage.

The ‘Cats wrestled four freshman - Ben Dachs (106 lbs.), Colton Averett (126 lbs.), Cody Gibson (145 lbs.), and Dylan Bazarian (160 lbs.) - in the tournament with a combined record of 14 wins and six losses. Cole Dean (138 lbs.) and Zach Lacy (220 lbs.) were both able to put together perfect 5-0 runs on the day.

“In spite of facing adversity the came together as individuals and a team to make a great showing,” Schwab said of his team.

The Wrestlers will hit the mats again on Tuesday, January 17th, when they have a match against Festus and Anna-Jonesboro at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau. The match is set to get underway at 6:00 p.m.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Ryan Willen scored 10 points in the final 3:02 to help Lafayette grind out a 65-63 win over Navy in the Patriot League opener on Saturday night.

Willen helped make up for a lethargic team shooting night (40 percent from the field), finishing with a game-high 21 points, including 16 in the second half. Jim Mower and Rob Delaney joined him in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively. Mower and Delaney added five rebounds apiece with Delaney also distributing five assists. Lafayette (6-10, 1-0) outrebounded Navy 33-31 and had a season-low nine turnovers.

The game was close throughout, with eight ties and nine lead changes, and the Leopards trailed for the majority of it. Seth Hinrichs tied the game for the seventh time with 4:16 left after a pair of free throws. Jordan Sugars answered with four straight, but Nick Petkovich evened the score for the final time at 57-57 with 2:30 remaining, part of a 7-0 Lafayette spurt.

Willen further asserted himself, missing an initial attempt in the lane before corralling a rebound, making the putback and setting himself up for the and-one. He converted the foul shot and Lafayette led 57-55 with 3:02. Sugars responded with a pair of free throws on the next possession and ended the night with 20 points.

Willen had the answer again, using an up-and-under bucket to lead 62-59 with 1:13 left. With 37 seconds remaining, Navy's Jordan Brickman knifed through the defense and laid in a bucket to trim the margin to 62-61.

The Mids (3-12, 0-1) set out to foul Willen and did. The senior made one freebie and Navy called its final timeout of the game before his second attempt. The follow-up free throw missed and Lafayette led 63-61 with 18 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, J.J. Avila (15 points) fired up a three-pointer which missed long and Petkovich ripped down his fifth rebound of the game. After going down to the floor, Petkovich called a timeout.

After a Lafayette timeout and an inbound pass, Willen was able to put away the game with two more free throws with three ticks left on the scoreboard, leading 65-61. Avila added a bucket at the buzzer.

The Leopards shot 32 percent from three, and garnered 16 points at the line in a 76 percent effort. Navy made 20-of-22 (91%) at the line, but was 5-of-18 from three.

Lafayette continues its mini tour of the service academies, hosting Army on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

OWENSBORO, KY – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners found its groove on the offensive end and were able to cruise past Kentucky Wesleyan 74-58 on Saturday afternoon in Owensboro, Ky. Hailee Parks continued her strong play on the weekend scoring a game-high 24 points and had nine rebounds.

S&T (10-2, 5-0 GLVC) scored the first basket of the game on a layup by Quintonia Evans 0:15 into the contest. Kentucky Wesleyan (8-4, 2-2 GLVC) answered back with a pair of free throws from Bianca Barton for the only tie of the contest on the ensuing possession.

Julie Meyer gave the Lady Miners a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with a jumper at the 16:56 mark. After a Parks jumper made it 6-2, Lauren Goffinet brought the Panthers within one with a three. That would be the closest they got the rest of the way.

S&T made 7 of its first 8 shots on its way to 21-9 lead at about the midway point of the opening frame. The lead grew to 27-15 on a layup by Evans at the 4:50 mark.

KWC trimmed the deficit in half with six straight over a three-minute stretch, but Katelyn Heil scored on a fast break layup and Kyesha Hall buried a triple right before the half to send the Lady Miners into the break with a 32-23 lead.

S&T shot 61 percent (14-23) from the field in the opening half and outrebounded the Panthers by a 22-10 margin. Parks and Evans combined for 19 of the team’s 32 points.

KWC struggled to make shots going 9-of-30 (30 percent) from the field. It stayed in the game thanks to making all four of its free throws. T’Essence Phelps had six points while Goffinet dropped in five.

S&T opened the second half on a 17-8 run in the first nine minutes to build an 18 point advantage. The lead grew to its largest of the contest at 56-34 on a three from Toni Knar with 8:21 to play. The Panthers tried to rally late but the Lady Miners made their last eight free throw attempts and shot 88 percent (15-17) at the foul line in the second half.

They outscored KWC 40-28 in the paint and had an advantage of 18 on the glass 41-23.

Parks and Evans were the only two S&T players in double figures. Evans had a career-high 13 points to go along with her seven rebounds. Karli Sample added nine off the bench while Senait McLeod, Courtney Kemp and Toni Knar had five each.

Dexter, Mo., native Katelyn Heil chipped in four points in the victory.

The Lady Miners finished the contest shooting 54 percent (27-for-50) from the floor and were 18-of-23 (78.3 percent) at the foul line. The Panthers shot just 34.4 percent (21-for-61) from the field but were a perfect 11-of-11 at the foul line.

Barton had 10 to lead KWC while Phelps dropped in nine. Katie Behrens and Goffinet added eight apiece.

S&T returns home next Thursday to take on Northern Kentucky beginning at 5:30 p.m.

LEBANON, ILL. - Sharron Andrews (Oakland/Hayward, Calif.) posted her third double-double of the season and the team's fifth in five consecutive games as the William Woods University women's basketball team rolled over former AMC foe McKendree University by a 56-47 scoreline. The senior tallied a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds as WWU stretched its winning streak to three games.

It took the Owls a bit to get started, with nearly two full minutes passing between the first bucket and the second, but once WWU found the range it was full speed ahead. WWU opened up a 20-5 lead by the 10-minute mark, paced by seven points from Andrews and six from Miranda Loesch.

McKendree pulled to within 12 with 8:10 to go on the strength of a 5-2 spurt, but a quick timeout and an open trey from Ashlee Taylor (Dexter, Mo.) quashed the surge and started another huge WWU run, as the Owls reeled off 12 points over the next three-and-a-half minutes and allowed just a Brittney Willis jumper to take a 34-12 lead with 4:03 left.

Both teams closed out the half on a cold-shooting spell, as WWU took a 39-15 lead into the break.

The Bearcats looked as if they wanted to mount a comeback, scoring eight straight out of the halftime intermission, but Andrews forced a turnover and converted on the fast break layup, with a Blake French (St. Charles, Mo.) jumper pushing the lead back to 43-23 with 13:58 to go.

Even though McKendree would narrow the WWU lead to 45-36 with 10:10 left in the game, the Owls were able to comfortably hold the Bearcats at arm's length and close out the contest 13-point winners.

Andrews was one of two WWU players to finish the contest in double-digit scoring, with Taylor adding 10 on the afternoon. The Owls also held a 44-37 rebounding edge - led by Megan Aubuchon's (Old Monroe, Mo.) game-high 12 -but were outshot by a slim .351-.333 margin. WWU made up for the margin with rock-solid shooting from the free throw line, missing on just two of their 15 trips compared to just 3-of-8 shooting for McKendree.

William Woods moves to 10-4 on the season and will open its American Midwest Conference schedule on Thursday night against Hannibal-LaGrange University. Tipoff for the game is set for 5:30 p.m., and it's the first of a doubleheader with the WWU men.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.7.2012

Games played Friday, January 6. 2012

High School Boys

• Dexter 78, Woodland 55
• Bloomfield 65, East Prairie 33
• Advance 83, Meadow Heights 29
• Charleston 58, Sikeston 50
• Risco 86,Leopold 71
• Scott City 66, Chaffee 54
• DeSoto 63, Perryville 49
• Naylor 77, Neelyville 56
• Senath-Hornersville 48, Southland 37
• Holcomb 66, Malden 39
• Kennett 47, Poplar Bluff 32
• Hayti 61, Campbell 40

High School Girls

• Jackson 48, Cor Jesu 43
• Woodland 53, Delta 35
• Saxony Lutheran 50, Scott City Central 34

NCAA Men

• Kentucky 81, St. John’s 59
• Arkansas Sate 58, St. Bonaventure 52
• Harvard 55, Vermont 48
• Murray State 70, Western Kentucky 59
  

NCAA Women

• Duke 76, Wake Forest 58
• Maryland 77, Georgia Tech 74

Saturday's Games

• William Woods (Women) @ McKendree University
• Mizzou @ Kansas State
• Mizzou (Women) vs Texas Tech
• Missouri S&T (Women) @ Kentucky Wesleyan
• Lafayette @ NAVY
• SEMO (Women) @ Eastern Kentucky
• SEMO @ Eastern Kentucky