By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

PUXICO - The Bearcats answered any lingering questions about their offensive production on Tuesday night when they faced the Puxico Indians on the road. The ‘Cats had three players in double-figures, shot 40% from beyond the arc, and only turned the ball over 12 times in an 82-72 victory over the Tribe.

The Bearcats were without the services of sophomore assist machine Cody Neldon, who was out with an illness, but Jordan Fitts picked up his production to compensate with a career-high 22 points.

Jake Lee dominated the paint and also had a 22 point night, while Tyler Miller contributed 19 points from his guard position.

The Bearcats had their foot on the gas from the beginning of the contest; Fitts and Chase Young both buried threes in the opening frame to compliment Miller’s 10 point and Lee’s eight point efforts in the opening frame.

Jacob Plunkett answered with a pair of treys for the Indians, but the ‘Cats put together their most productive opening of the season to hold a 26-19 lead after the opening frame.

Fitts drained two more threes in the second quarter, while Lee continued to clean up the offensive glass. The Tribe made some defensive adjustments to slow down the Bearcats’ offensive attack, but Dexter still held a 45-35 lead at the half.

The Indians used great perimeter shooting to chip away at the Bearcats’ lead in the third quarter. Matt Camden knocked down a three early in the third, while Plunkett hit his third trey a minute later. Fitts put in seven points in the frame, but Plunkett knocked down two more threes late in the frame to cut Dexter’s lead to only 56-52 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Indians had their strongest effort of the evening in the fourth quarter, with 20 total points. Garrett Payne hit a three early in the frame, while Camden hit another three midway through the fourth.

For the second game in a row, the ‘Cats iced the game with free throws; Dexter only hit six shots from the floor, but made 14 of 21 stretch free throws to take a 82-72 victory and remain undefeated in SCAA play.

The ‘Cats will be back in action on Friday (Jan 20) night when they return to the Bearcat Event Center to take on the New Madrid County Central Eagles. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m.

Thanks to Bearcat Mom Tracy Miller for the photo!

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.17.2011

Games played Monday, January 16, 2011

High School Boys

• Scott City 78. East Prarie 39
• Chaffee 48, Kelly 44

High School Girls

• Dexter 63, Naylor 21
• Poplar Bluff 41, Notre Dame 35
• Scott City 59, Kelly 39
• Woodland 73, Puxico 11
• Oran 45, Saxony Lutheran 44
• Jackson 49, Jefferson R-7 25

College Men

• Mizzou 70, Texas A&M 51
• Kansas 92, Baylor 74
• Syracuse 71, Pittsburgh 63
• Marquette 74, Louisville 63
• Rutgers 65, Notre Dame 58

College Women

• SIE-Edwardsville 58, SEMO 42
• Connecticut 86, North Carolina 35
• Maryland 68, Virginia 61
• North Carolina State 75, Wake Forest 66 

Tonight

• Dexter (Boys) @ Puxico

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

NAYLOR - A running clock is becoming the norm for the Lady Bearcats this season; throughout their now 11 game win streak, eight of the contests have had the ‘mercy clock’ running in the fourth quarter, and it was no different on Monday night when the Lady ‘Cats took on the Naylor Lady Eagles.

A double-double from Brittany Harris (20 points, 16 boards) and double-digit efforts from Paige Patterson and Alison Jarrell were enough to help the Lady ‘Cats ground the Eagles in the 63-21 victory.

“I thought we did a really good job defensively. Offensively, we missed a lot of perimeter shots; I think we were five for 20 at the three point line tonight,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said. “We didn’t shoot the ball that well from the perimeter, but I thought Paige and Brittany did really good in our inside game. They did a really good job of sealing off the paint and wanting the ball, especially in the second half.”

“At one point, she had more rebounds than she had points,” Allen said of Harris‘ big night on the glass. “Then, she turned it on offensively and really sealed and wanted the ball.”

The Lady ‘Cats were dominant on the glass throughout the contest, and out-rebounded the Eagles by a 36-15 margin. 38 of the ‘Cats‘ 63 points came from the paint, but Allen noted that pounding the ball inside wasn’t a big part of the game-plan heading into the contest.


“We really made the adjustment at halftime; we took quite a few perimeter shots there in the first half and weren’t really knocking them down,” Allen said. “We wanted to try to pound it inside in the second half, and Paige and Brittany did a great job of sealing inside and wanting the ball, and our guards did a good job of getting the ball in there to them.”

The Lady ‘Cats jumped out to a 11-2 lead at the 2:55 mark, aided by steals from Erika Cobb, Jarrell, and Harris in the first quarter. The Tigers quickly put up four unanswered points, but the Lady ‘Cats responded and took a 15-6 lead at the end of the opening frame.

Patterson recorded a block in the early second quarter, and Jarrell knocked down treys on back-to-back possessions to put the Lady ‘Cats up 34-8 at the half.

Naylor had its most productive offensive effort in the third quarter, where the put up nine points. Andrea Sullivan drained a three early in the frame, but Jarrell quickly responded with her third three of the contest. A three point play from Patterson pushed the lead to 49-17 at the end of the third.

Mollie Whitehead and Patterson both picked up their fourth fouls in the first minute of the final quarter, but the 'Cats maintained at least a 34 point lead throughout the forth quarter for a 63-21 victory, extending their streak to 11 games.

Allen noted the difficulties of keeping a team mentally ‘in the game’ during a contest like this, but said his squad usually does a good job of maintaining their focus.

“We tell them to keep on playing; we’re going to have to be able to play for four quarters, especially when it comes to the playoffs,” he said. “We’ve gotta keep on playing, and playing hard. The girls have really done that, even tonight.”


The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again on Thursday night, when they travel to Portageville to face the Bulldogs.

“[Portageville is] a little down this year, but hopefully we’ll still get in there and get after it,” Allen said. “We definitely don’t need to have any letdowns. We need to get after it and play hard every game.”

Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Editor’s Note: Tonight’s double-double was Harris’ seventh of the season.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats are on their way to another great season with a young team, and the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association is beginning to take notice.

In the second straight season without a senior starter, the Lady Bearcats are currently sporting an 11-2 record and are in the middle of a 10 game winning streak. In the most recent MBCA poll - including games through Jan. 8 - the Lady ‘Cats earned the No. 6 ranking in the state among Class 4 teams.

In the No. 5 slot is Miller Career Academy; MCA handed the Lady ‘Cats their first loss in their third game of the season in the Farmington Invitational Tournament. The Phoenix did exactly what they needed to do in the 50-33 win: they dominated the paint, holding LBB’s one-two punch of Brittany Harris and Paige Patterson to just nine combined points and didn’t give the Lady ‘Cats any uncontested shots on the perimeter.

LBB’s only other loss on the season came at home against the Jackson Lady Indians. The Lady ‘Cats held a 23-19 halftime lead against the Tribe, but a second-half offensive surge proved too much as the Indians took home a 45-38 victory.

Two of the Lady Bearcats’ most impressive wins have come against the Kennett Lady Indians, who are ranked No. 4 in Class 3 and sport a 13-2 record. The ‘Cats handed the Tribe both of their losses on the season; a 69-45 contest in the finals of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic and a 56-26 decision last week in the Bearcat Event Center.

The only other currently ranked team on the Lady ‘Cats’ schedule is Meadow Heights, ranked No. 9 in Class 2. The Lady ‘Cats and Lady Panthers are set to meet on January 31 in the Bearcat Event Center.

For the full list of State-Ranked teams, click here.

EASTON, Pa. - Bucknell used a 9-2 run to start the second half and never looked back, winning 79-65 over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Seth Hinrichs tied his career high with a team-best 17 points, but it wasn't enough to offset Mike Muscala's 27-point effort for the Bison.

With 11:15 showing on the first half clock, Muscala misfired on a jumper that Ryan Willen saved to Tony Johnson on the Leopards' baseline. Johnson then found Hinrichs in transition for a three-pointer, making the score 14-13 in favor of the Bison. Willen's rebound to spark the basket was the 500th of his career, putting him in a class of 13 players with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their Lafayette careers.

Aside from Jim Mower's layup to open the game, Bucknell (13-6, 3-0) controlled the action in the first half, led by Muscala, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, who scored 19 points in the opening 20 minutes. Lafayette (7-11, 2-1) went into the locker room trailing 34-30 as the team shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, including a pair of threes from Hinrichs and Levi Giese.

Bucknell scored nine of the first 11 points after halftime to take its largest lead of the game to that point, 43-32, prompting a Lafayette timeout. Mower's drive down the center of the lane for a three-point play resulted from the timeout, but Joe Willman answered with an 18-footer on the other end.

Mower's three assisted by Joey Ptasinski at 12:31 cut the deficit to seven (49-42) but Bucknell wouldn't allow Lafayette to get any closer over the next six minutes of action, holding at least an eight-point lead for a majority of the stretch.

Trailing by 14, Johnson's corner triple cut the deficit to 66-55 with 5:55 remaining, but Cameron Ayers connected from outside on the next trip for three of his 11 points to retake a 14-point lead. As a team the Bison shot 57 percent from the field and were 14-of-14 from the stripe. Lafayette shot 46 percent in the game, but was outrebounded 34-18.The Leopards' recorded a season-low six turnovers.

Willen and Mower were the other two Lafayette players in double figures, scoring 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Lafayette hits the road on Thursday, when it travels to Worcester, Mass. to play Holy Cross at 7 p.m. The game will nationally televised on CBS Sports Network (DirecTV 613, DISH Network 152) and GoLeopards.com will carry an audio-only broadcast.

Click here for a full breakdown of the game's stats!