By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The chips weren't in the Bearcats' favor to start the 2011-2012 season.

They lost their leading scorer and emotional leader to graduation.

They had several starters still banged up from football season.

They opened the season with a 'Murderer's Row' of a schedule.

Despite the odds, the Bearcats have done a great job of turning what some could have called a 'lost cause' of a season around. After starting the season 0-5, the 'Cats have won 13 of their last 17, and are currently on a 10 game win streak after a 94-45 thrashing of the Bell City Cubs on Tuesday night at the Bearcat Event Center.

The 'Cats already held a blowout win over Bell City from the SCAA Tournament in January, and this time forced the Cubs into double-digit turnovers in the first quarter.

"We came out with a lot more energy than what I anticipated. We played really well early and built that big lead, and the kids played with a lot of energy all night," Dexter head coach Rob Nichols said. "Things got a little sloppy there in the second half, especially late, but I'm pretty pleased with their effort."

"We guarded well early and got a lot of deflections and turnovers. When you're doing that, it really picks up your energy," Nichols continued. "When you're scoring easy buckets, everything seems to flow a lot better."

The Bearcats came out of the gate with great ball pressure on defense. Dexter's full court press caused the Cubs to cough up the ball seven times in the first 2:30 of the contest. Trey Giger dropped in the Cubs' first bucket at the 4:45 mark, but the 'Cats had already put 14 points on the board. Tyler Miller knocked down his first three of the game to give the 'Cats a 19-2 lead at the 2:45 mark. DHS held a massive 26-4 lead after the opening frame.

Miller knocked down treys number two and three in the second quarter, and teammate D.J. Dowdy joined in on the three parade at the 1:25 mark to give the 'Cats a 50-10 lead. A pair of offensive rebound and stickbacks from Cody Neldon pushed the 'Cats to a 54-17 lead at halftime.

Miller took to the air in the third quarter; the 6'3" senior had a dunk and tip-in layup in the first 30 seconds of the second half. Jake Lee crossed into double-double territory at the 4:53 mark. Josh Overby earned a pair of three point plays for the 'Cubs in the frame, but the 'Cats maintained their huge lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Jonathan Page, who had a great game coming off the bench for the 'Cats, had a tip-in layup midway through the fourth quarter to cap off his 12 point second half effort. The junior led the Bearcats' bench players late in the fourth, and helped the 'Cats seal a 94-45 victory.

In the JV contest, the 'Cats fought off a slow first half and took home a 57-36 'W'. Stevie Payne led the young 'Cats with 15 points and nine boards.

The Bearcats have a tough three-game stretch to close the season; Friday night, they face Kennett on the road. Tuesday, the 'Cats travel to Poplar Bluff before concluding the season at home against Cape Central. Nichols was quick to note the difficult competition the 'Cats will be up against and the challenges Tuesday's game presented.

"That's what we talked about at halftime of this game; we needed to make sure in the second half that we played with good focus defensively and not be sloppy with the ball," he said. "We have three games coming up with Kennett, Bluff, and Cape Central. All three are solid teams, and it could go either way; we could win those games, or they are very capable of beating us as well."

Tip of Friday's contest at Kennett is set for 6:00 p.m.

AVE MARIA, Fla.- It would take until their final at-bat for the second time in four games to start the season but the Palm Beach Atlantic University baseball team once again came away with a late rally to secure a 5-3 win over Ave Maria University on Monday afternoon at Bowie's Ballpark. On what was an overcast day, the team received another strong starting pitching assignment, this time from junior Nic Kovacs with junior Alejandro De Moya closing the door in the ninth for the win.

With coach Kent Bottenfield and his staff still looking to mix-and-match their early season lineups, the team tallied a total of 11 hits on the day including eight hits from their 1-4 hitters.

A leadoff single from junior Matt Perkowski got the Sailfish (3-1) started before a two-out RBI single from senior catcher Travis Murray plated the team's first run.

Things would remain 1-0 in favor of Palm Beach Atlantic until the bottom of the fourth inning when Ave Maria (2-5) first-baseman Nick Sacchetta delivered a single to plate Alex Sanchez with the game-tying score.

The Fish would quickly respond with a two-spot in the top of the fifth inning as Perkowski was hit by a pitch and came around to score on an error while Murray cashed in on a sacrifice fly to plate Cody Higgins for a 3-1 Sailfish lead.

The Gyrenes would add on a run in the sixth on a Sacchetta RBI double and then another run in the seventh on a Sanchez run-scoring single off PBA reliever Jonathan Kies.

Senior Jeremiah Cothiere would enter in relief and retire the next two hitters to get the Blue and White out of the jam.

Moving ahead to the ninth inning, the Fish would start the rally with a one-out walk of Higgins followed by Luis Mejia's third hit of the day on a single to left-field. A Murray base-knock would then follow before the go-ahead run came home to score on Nick Natale's RBI single.

The Fish would add an insurance run on an Ethan Perla fielder's choice.

De Moya closed out the Ave Maria hopes with a scoreless ninth as he struck out three in 1.1 innings of work while collecting the win.

Kovacs was strong in his starting debut after collecting the win in relief on opening night of Thursday's home opening win over Lynn University. Kovacs went 6.1 innings while allowing three earned runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.

Mejia finished 3-for-5 with a run scored while Higgins and Murray each collected two hits. Murray drove in a pair of runs in the win while Perkowski and Higgins each scored two runs atop the PBA lineup.

PBA will have off from game action until Friday, February 9th when they will host Flagler College at 6 pm followed by a double-header at 1 pm on Saturday. All three games will be played at the Roger Dean Complex in Jupiter, Florida on the Marlins Quad.

Click here to see the game's full box score.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Lady Bearcats and Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs met on Monday night in a Class 4, District 1 clash. LBB already boasted a victory against the Bulldogs in their season opener, but Notre Dame was able to scratch out a 52-51 victory on the Bulldogs' senior night.

LBB head coach Chad Allen was pleased with his team's effort in all but one aspect of the contest: shooting.

"I thought we really took care of the ball tonight. Coming into this game, we had a lot of turnovers against Notre Dame the first time we played them, and tonight we only had 12," Allen noted. "For the most part, we definitely took care of the ball, we just didn't finish shots."

The Lady 'Cats had a chance late in the game; with just under :30 left and the score tied at 51, Notre Dame's Summer Burger was caught traveling. The Lady 'Cats took the ball down the floor, but an Allison Jarrell turnover led to the Bulldog's scoring play.

"Yeah, it was, but that one play didn't determine the outcome of the game," Allen said of the play. "If we'd finished shots better inside, I think we shot 30 percent from the floor tonight. If you shoot that low, it's going to be hard to win, especially on the road."

The Lady 'Cats earned their first points of the game with two free throws from Paige Patterson. A trey from Hannah Noe gave the 'Cats a 9-4 lead at the 5:10 mark, but a three point play from Burger sparked a 7-2 run for the Bulldogs. An offensive rebound and stickback from Annie Siebert gave the Bulldogs a 13-12 lead at the 2:30 mark, but six straight points from Brittany Harris nudged the 'Cats to a 18-15 advantage after the first.

Noe knocked down another three early in the second to push LBB to a 24-17 lead at 4:45, but the Bulldogs put together a 10-2 run. An offensive rebound and stickback by Patterson put LBB up by one heading into halftime.

Harris picked up her third foul midway through the third quarter, and both teams traded baskets throughout the frame. A three at the buzzer from Brooke Bohnert gave the Bulldogs a 40-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Jarrell knocked down a trey to open the final quarter, but Burger answered with an old-fashioned three point play. Harris picked up her fourth foul, and Burger put together another three point play to keep the Bulldogs in the lead. Patterson drew a charge on Miranda Fowler, and Harris tied the game with a 12-footer at the 3:45 mark. The Bulldogs rattled off three quick points before Noe knocked down a deep three to tie the game at 51 with 30 seconds left in the game. Burger was called for a walk with :15 on the clock, but Shelby Beussink came up with a steal that led to Burger heading to the charity stripe. The senior knocked down one of two free throws with three seconds left in the game. A last-second three from Erika Cobb fell short to give the Bulldogs a 52-51 victory.

In similar form with the Bearcats' last loss against Meadow Heights, two players (Burger and Bonhert, who combined for over 35 points) carried the brunt of Notre Dame's offense.

"We just wanted to try to contain them and keep them in front of us," Allen said of the senior duo. "They got away a couple times, but we'll take a look at the film and try to adjust a little bit. Our district is definitely tough, and we're going to have to get back in the gym and work even harder."

The Lady 'Cats will be back in action on Thursday night, when they host the Cape Central Lady Tigers. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. from the Bearcat Event Center.

HANNIBAL - For the second time this season, the battle between William Woods and Hannibal-LaGrange came down to the last play of the game. Unfortunately for the Owls, the result was the same, as WWU fell to the Trojans 75-73 in overtime on Saturday.

HLG got off to a quick start, but the Owls responded with a 6-point spurt and led for most of the first half. WWU wasn't able to stretch out past a four-point lead in the opening stanza, however, as the Trojans were able to pull back into striking distance.

At the close of the half, however, the Owls hit a bit of a cold streak with the Trojans taking advantage by reeling off a 10-2 run to leave WWU trailing 27-35 with 1:27 to go. Katie Scherder (Bowling Green, Mo.) closed out the half with five straight points - two free throws and a three-pointer at the buzzer to close the gap to 32-37 at the break.

The Owls started the second half with a 10-4 run, powered by eight from Ashlee Taylor (Dexter, Mo.). HLG stretched the margin back to five, but back-to-back treys from Olivia Storjohann (Eldridge, Iowa) put WWU back in front 46-45 with 13:55 to go.

WWU continued to push, taking the margin out to 56-48 with 10:37 left. The Owls sank four consecutive free throws, as Miranda Loesch (Lohman, Mo.) drew a foul before the HLG coach was whistled for his second technical foul of the game. Storjohann sank both of the technical free throws after Loesch knocked down the foul throws.

Hannibal-LaGrange was able to whittle away at the lead over the next several minutes, eventually regaining the lead with just over four minutes to go.

Down 61-65 with 2:11 to go, the Owls got another trey from Scherder to pull within one, and picked up defensive stops on the next two HLG possessions before a jumper from Taylor put the Owls up 66-65 with 36 seconds to play.

The Trojans answered with a three, leaving WWU with the ball and a two-point deficit with 13.5 seconds to go. Megan Aubuchon (Old Monroe, Mo.) was able to find an open look to tie the game at 68-68, with the WWU defense locking down and sending the contest to overtime.

Trailing 73-74 with less than 10 seconds to go in the extra frame, WWU found itself with one final chance as Kyra Smith missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Owls drove the length of the court and as Andrews pushed through traffic she couldn't get the bounce on her layup attempt and HLG grabbed the rebound. Even after a quick foul and a bit of luck as Ashleigh Spencer made only the first of the two bonus FTs, WWU couldn't get a shot off before time expired.

The Owls shot an outstanding .517 from the floor in the second half to finish the game at a .456 clip, and rattled in 6 of 14 from three-point range. Storjohann finished with a career-high 16 points, one of four WWU players in double figures. Taylor and Scherder each chipped in 12, with Loesch adding 11. Spencer led all scorers with 24 for HLG, with Ashley Wilson adding 17.

William Woods falls to 16-7 on the year and 6-2 in AMC play. The Owls return home for a 5:30 p.m. contest against Park University.

Click here
 to see the full box score.

ROLLA - The Lady Miners (14-6, 9-4 GLVC) scored the game's first 10 points and 16 of the first 18 forcing UIS (8-13, 3-10 GLVC) to take two timeouts in the first five minutes of the contest. S&T made 7 of its first 11 field goal attempts and never looked back.

The Prairie Stars cut it to 10 twice but each time the Lady Miners answered. The lead grew to 39-20 on a layup by Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) with less than three minutes to play in the opening frame. UIS cut it to 16 on a layup by Mallory Beck with 1:35 to play, but Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) buried her third trey of the half extending the margin back to 19 with 1:18 left.  Bailey Beale made a pair of free throws with 0:35 left to make it a 17 point contest at the break.

S&T shot 65.4 percent (17-for-26) in the opening stanza and was led by Knar's nine points. Parks, Courtney Kemp (Fredricktown, Mo./Fredricktown) and Katelyn Heil (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) added eight each. The Lady Miners were 5-of-6 from downtown and 7-for-9 at the charity stripe.