By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats picked up another blowout win in their return home on Monday night. The ‘Cats downed the Kennett Lady Indians 56-26 in their second meeting of the 2011-2012 season.

Paige Patterson and Brittany Harris were given the task of shutting down the Tribe’s potent Audrey Wynne, who dropped 27 points on the Bearcats in the Lady Royals Christmas Classic.

Patterson and Harris delivered in a big way, holding Wynne to just nine points in the contest.


“I thought Paige and Brittany did a great job tonight switching off on Wynne and limiting her touches; last time we played them, she had 27 points, and tonight, she had nine,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the game. “A few of those points, I’d typically refer to as ‘garbage points’ where the ball just bounced to her.”

“The past few days, we’ve been working hard on a game plan to try and stop [Audrey] Wynne and trying to put a lot of pressure on [Darby] Sparks in the full-court press,” Allen added. “I thought the girls executed that really well. We really tried to take the ball out of Sparks’ hands, and I think that threw them off offensively.”

The Lady ‘Cats played outstanding defense all night, and held the Tribe to single-digit scores in each frame of the contest. The ‘Cats struggled shooting the ball at times throughout the game, but their potent defense kept the Indians in check.

“The girls did a really good job tonight defensively. Offensively, we didn’t shoot the ball very well; I thought we came out flat, especially in the second quarter when we only had six points,” Allen said. “We didn’t have a lot of energy; I thought we took too many perimeter shots and didn’t try to get it inside like we did in the first quarter.”

The Lady ‘Cats opened the game with a 16-2 run that spanned the entire first quarter and part of the second, but the Tribe rattled off nine unanswered points to cut Dexter’s lead to 16-11 at the 1:15 mark of the second quarter. Mollie Whitehead picked up a loose ball and dumped it to Harris for a layup at the buzzer to send the ‘Cats into halftime with a 22-11 lead.

The Lady ‘Cats continued to bombard the Tribe throughout the second half, aided by a 12 point effort from Harris, and five point efforts from both Alison Jarrell and Patterson in the fourth quarter.

Despite a late surge by the Indians, the Lady ‘Cats were still able to take home another victory with a 30 point-plus margin. Allen noted a few areas of concern with his team’s offensive performance, but was pleased overall.

“We came out with some different sets that we didn’t run in the first half, but we got out to a 6-0 run to open the second half. I thought we executed offensively well then, but then we started standing around again,” he said. “We need to learn to keep playing offensively, to keep moving and setting screens. We just didn’t have a lot of energy tonight, offensively.”

The Lady ‘Cats move to 12-2 with the victory, and will be in action again Thursday, when they face Neelyville in their last home contest before a four game road trip.

“It’s another good team; Neelyville is just as good as Kennett, if not better,” Allen said. “They’re a little quicker, and it will probably be more of a fast-paced game. We’re going to have to go to the game film and see how to take some things away from them.”

Tipoff for the game is pushed back to 6:30 p.m., as the Freshman Boys team has a contest with Poplar Bluff set for 5:00.

After Wednesday’s loss at Williams Baptist, Jeff Walk said that Mineral Area was very similar to Williams and that his Three Rivers Lady Raiders could face a similar outcome Saturday if they did not step up to the plate.

He was right.

After taking a five-point lead to the locker room, Three Rivers scored just four field goals in the first 17 minutes of the second half – including going almost nine minutes without a basket – and dropped its Region XVI opener 64-57 to the Lady Cardinals Saturday at the Black River Coliseum.

“We came out just flat as a pancake,” Walk said. “We didn’t change anything at half. This game is so much mental and we’ve got to overcome that.”

Mineral Area (9-8, 1-0 XVI) opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. Rita Banaszczak’s three-point play with 17:33 to go snapped a 27-all tie, while Taylor Ignoto’s 3-pointer capped the run with 16:18 remaining.

The Lady Raiders (6-7, 0-1) did not give up, cutting the deficit to 39-36 on Tara Porter’s basket with 11:24 left in the game, but went cold afterwards, not scoring another field goal until Whitney Mills drained a trey with 2:39 to go. By then the Lady Cardinals led 55-41.

Cold shooting from the field and from the line proved devastating Saturday for Three Rivers – the team missed eight of its first 12 free throws in the second half and finished the game just 40 percent (8-for-20) from the charity stripe. That in addition to shooting just 33 percent (22-of-67) from the field.

By contrast, Mineral Area made 78 percent (25-for-32) of its foul shots.

“You’ve got to make free throws – and you’ve got to make shots, period,” said Walk.

Three Rivers did make one final push. Trailing 60-47 after Mineral Area’s Jerica Wheeler hit a pair of free throws with 42.3 seconds left, the Lady Raiders used some stiff defense and quick scoring to go on a 10-2 run, capping it with Abbie Warren’s basket with seven seconds left.

But it was too little, too late, a sentiment Walk agreed with.

“We did finish strong, but we’ve just got to have that spark earlier in the game,” Walk said.

Mills led Three Rivers with 14 points, while Carolyn Overton added 13 in the loss.

Ignoto led all scorers with 18 points, while Banaszczak added 15.

The Lady Raiders are back in action Monday when they host Lewis and Clark. Tipoff time is set for 6 p.m. at the Bess Activity Center.

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.