CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Redhawks will play host the No. 14 Murray State Racers on Wednesday night in the Redhawks' final home game of the 2011-2012 campaign. Seniors Zach House, Logan Nutt, Marcus Brister and Leon Powell will be honored during a special presentation prior to tip-off.

Southeast trails its all-time series against Murray State, 45-18. The Redhawks beat the Racers, 64-57, the last time Murray State played at the Show Me Center on Feb. 16, 2011. Southeast has never defeated the Racers at home in back-to-back seasons. The Racers defeated Southeast 81-73 in a contest earlier this month at Murray.

Murray State is the first-ever nationally-ranked team to play at the Show Me Center. Southeast is 0-9 all-time against nationally-ranked teams, but Southeast has won six of its last seven games at home and is currently 10-3 at the Show Me Center this year. The Redhawks posted 10 home victories in a season for the first time since 2004-05 (10-4).

One more win will guarantee Southeast its first winning season since 2004-05. The Redhawks are 14-11 overall and 9-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Southeast went 15-14 and 9-7 in the OVC under-then head coach Gary Garner during its last winning campaign in 2004-05.

Another Ohio Valley Conference victory will give the Redhawks 10 league wins in a season for only the fourth time in school history and first since Southeast tied for first in the conference with a 14-4 record in 1999-00. That year also marked the Redhawks lone NCAA Tournament appearance. Southeast has gone 11-consecutive seasons with no more than nine OVC wins.

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The game will be broadcast on the Redhawks Radio Network, K103 FM (KEZS). 

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The MSHSAA State Wrestling Tournament begins tomorrow on the campus of Mizzou in Columbia, Mo. The Bearcats, under head coach Rick Schwab, are sending five to state this year; they are: (from left) Cody Stevens (160 lbs.), Brad Wick (170 lbs.), Dylan Bazarian (152 lbs.), Trevor Waldner (126 lbs.), and Cole Dean (132 lbs.).

Stevens, in his third trip to State, will be defending his sixth-place finish in the 160-pound weight class from last year's state tournament, while Waldner looks to improve on last year's third-place finish after moving up from 119.

Bazarian, a freshman, and Waldner, a sophomore, are both products of the AAU wrestling program started by Schwab four years ago.

"It's really been to their advantage," Schwab said. "It has them ready to compete heading into their freshman year of high school, so they don't have that year or two where they have to learn everything while trying to be competitive."

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The Bearcats will begin the three day, double elimination tournament tomorrow morning, and the ShowMe Times will keep you updated on their progress in the tournament.

Good Luck Bearcats!

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

BERNIE - The Bernie Mules and Richland Rebels met in a clash of SCAA teams on Tuesday night. Despite recent adversity, the Mules were able to pull off lopsided victories in both the JV and Varsity contests.

In the two quarters of JV action, the Mules shut out the Rebels with a 44-0 final score. Brad Freed paced the Mules with 13 points, and Matt Vernon netted 10.

In Varsity play, the Rebels kept the contest close in the opening frame. Jesse Barnes dropped in four points for Richland before the Mules unleashed a barrage of three pointers to take a 15-10 lead after the first.

Troy Kirkpatrick exploded for 16 of Bernie's 21 points in the second quarter. A three point play from Nick Daniels sparked the Rebels to their most productive frame of the contest, but the Mules carried a 36-23 lead into halftime.

Sam Turner had a solid effort in the third quarter, netting seven of Bernie's 26 points in the frame. Vernon, seeing some time on the floor with the 'big boys', knocked down a trey late in the third to help the Mules to a 62-29 lead.

Each team's offense in the fourth quarter was handled by one player; Richland's Richard Forshee, who was effectively shut down by Bernie all night, dropped in five points in the frame. A bucket from Turner was all Bernie had in the fourth, but their big lead early helped them seal a lopsided 64-34 victory.

“We played hard tonight. I think we tried to do what we’ve been working on especially in the 2nd half," Bernie head coach Brad Botsch said. "Our defensive focus was better, and we rebounded better than we had been. Our young kids stepped up and scored for us and hopefully they’ll continue to build confidence.”

The Mules will be back in action on Friday night, when they host the state-ranked Sikeston Bulldogs. The JV is set to get things underway with a 6:00 p.m. tipoff.

Photo Above: Sam Turner puts up a shot during Bernie's SCAA Tournament contest with Advance in the Bearcat Event Center (SMT file photo).

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Bearcats and Mules met in the nightcap of Tuesday's four-game basketball extravaganza; the 'Cats really struggled to get anything going in the game, and dropped their second straight game with a 52-28 final score.

The 'Cats were held to a free throw by Jake Lee and offensive rebound and stickback from Tyler Miller in the first quarter, while Poplar Bluff put together a pair of 6-0 runs to take a 12-3 lead heading into the second.

The 'Cats were again held to single-digits in the second quarter; Brad Potts picked up his first bucket of the evening late in the frame to send the 'Cats into the locker room down 21-9 at halftime.

Miller knocked down back-to-back threes midway through the third quarter in what appeared to be an offensive resurgence by the 'Cats, but Tyheim Towns answered with two threes of his own. The Mules held a commanding 38-19 lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.

Poplar Bluff held the Bearcats to just nine points in the fourth quarter to seal a 52-28 SEMO Conference win. DHS head coach Rob Nichols noted turnovers and an abysmal first half were key in the loss.

"They beat us in every aspect of the game. They killed us on the glass, and we turned the ball over too much. In the first half, we didn't get many shots," a visibly upset Nichols said after the game. "We didn't make many shots, but we also didn't take many. They just beat us in every aspect of the game; there's not one thing I thought we did better than them tonight."

The Bearcats were without the services of junior Chase Young in the contest; the Bearcat point guard will be sitting out the rest of the season due to patellar tendonitis in both knees.

"I'm not worried about our depth," Nichols said of Young's absence. "The kids we have are capable of playing and getting the job done, we just have to come and do it. Tonight we didn't do that."

The Bearcats will be back in action on Friday night, when they host Cape Central for Senior Night.

"They're a good team, a lot of size," Nichols said of the Tigers. "[If] we play like we did tonight, we aren't going to show too well. We'll have to play much, much better. We have three seniors, and it's their last time to play here, so hopefully we'll come out and have a good effort."

Tipoff is set for Friday (Feb. 17) at 6:00 p.m. from the Bearcat Event Center.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

For the second time in the 2011-2012 campaign, the Dexter Lady Bearcats and Poplar Bluff Lady Mules faced off in a SEMO Conference showdown. LBB picked up its second win of the season against the Mules with a 70-59 decision at the Bearcat Event Center on Tuesday night.

The Mules gave the 'Cats a scare a few times in the second half, and pulled within four points in the fourth quarter, but coach Chad Allen's squad fought back to their 10 point lead each time.

"This was definitely a game of runs; we would make a big run, and then they'd make a run right back," Allen said. "Poplar Bluff is definitely a good basketball team, and they've been playing really well here of late. Coach Chronister always does a tremendous job with those girls, and I'm glad our girls kept fighting hard until the end."

The Lady 'Cats utilized a strong full-court press and quick transition offense throughout the contest to seal the win. Allen noted his team's recent struggles with 'easy' shots, but was proud of his team's grit late in the game.

"We wanted to make it a transition game; I feel like [Poplar Bluff is] more of a half-court offensive team this year. We wanted to try to play our game and get up and down the floor, and they did a good job of that tonight," he said. "We missed a lot of 'bunnies' under the basket, but we'll have games like that occasionally. If we hit those shots, it makes us better offensively, but it also helps us to be able to get back in our defense. I don't know what we shot from the field; I'm just glad they kept battling throughout the game."

The Lady Bearcats have played much improved defense of late, and did a good job of shutting down Danielle Farmer - who burned the 'Cats from the perimeter in their earlier meeting - and Marissa Webb, Bluff's leading scorer and inside threat.

"I thought we did a really good job of containing Webb. She's always going to score her points, but we did a good job of trying to clog up that middle making her drive," Allen said. "We also did a good job on Farmer; last time we played them, she hit four or five threes against us. We played pretty good defensively tonight."

The Lady 'Cats rode a 16-8 lead into the second quarter, when Mollie Whitehead knocked down back-to-back threes to give them a 30-15 lead. The Mules rattled off five unanswered points to close out the first half and trail 30-20 at halftime.

Erika Cobb pulled down several key defensive rebounds in the third to stall Poplar Bluff runs; Paige Patterson's three point play at the 2:00 mark gave the 'Cats a 45-31 lead. Farmer completed a three point play and hit a three for the Mules in the last minute of the frame to cut LBB's lead to 49-39 heading into the fourth quarter.

A jumper from Webb at the 4:30 mark pulled the Mules within six points in the fourth quarter, but steals from Whitehead and Katelynn Frazier let to points for the Lady 'Cats. Dexter built back to a 10 point lead thanks to great assists by Hannah Noe (11 total assists in the game) to Whitehead and Harris. Whitehead was called for a charge and fouled out at the 2:50 mark; the Lady 'Cats continued to battle and rattled off four unanswered points in the last 45 seconds of the game to edge their margin of victory to 11 points.

Allen noted the importance of the SEMO Conference win, as well as the difficulty of the conference this season.

"Our conference is really tough; we have some of the toughest teams in Southeast Missouri," he said. "I'm proud of the girls for battling back after losing two games in the conference and winning this game tonight. Bluff was first in conference coming into this game; now they are tied with Jackson for first, and we are tied with Notre Dame for second."

The Lady 'Cats will be back in action on Thursday (Feb. 17) night, when they close out the regular season at Twin Rivers. The contest is set to get underway at 6:00 p.m.