Farmington MO - The Dexter Lady Bearcats successfully opened their season Monday night with a 70-34 win over the St. Louis Notre Dame Rebels.

Dexter won the opening tip but missed their first shot and the two teams traded turnovers until Brittnay Harris scored the first of her team high 19 points to give the Lady Cats a lead one minute into the game. After two more Harris buckets Notre Dame got on the board with two free throws by Kristina Eason. The Lady Cats then went on a 12-0 run featuring baskets by Mollie Whitehead, Erika Cobb (12 points on the night) and Paige Patterson, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the game.  Dexter continued to force turnovers and ended up with a 44-12 halftime lead.

The second half was more of the same with the defense forcing 10 turnovers in the third quarter.  Patterson and Cobb lead the scoring charge. The fourth quarter featured a running "mercy" and gave the final score of 70-34. 

The Lady Cats will be in action on Friday night in the semi-finals of the Farmington tournament as they take on Poplar Bluff.

Campell, Missouri -   The Bernie Mules Varsity Basketball was in action Monday night in the Campbell Tournament against the host team, Campbell Camels.  The Mules put a mark in the win column to begin the 2012-13 season by a score of 77 to 32.

“This was a good start to a long season," noted Brad Botsch, Bernie's head coach.  "Our kids came out and played with energy and intensity on the defensive end, and that is what we have to have to be successful."

Bernie was quick to jump out on top in the first quarter, as David Baker for the Mules was on fire offensively.  Baker posted 13 of his game high total of 26-points on the night in the opening quarter.  Bernie closed out the first quarter with a 21 to 10 lead. 

The hot hand switched in the second quarter for the Mules as B J Jennings lit up the night with 8-points in the second quarter, followed closely by Justin Stanfield.  Defensively, Botch's team held the Camels to only 8-points in the second period making the score at halftime 49 to 18.

The strong defense of Bernie continued throughout the second half as they held Campbell to single digit totals in both the third and fourth quarters.  Offensively, Baker continued his onslaught of the Camels adding another 10-points in the third. 

Trey Kirkpatrick is an additional threat for the Mules offensively.  Kirkpatrick rained three-pointers down on the Camels in three of the four quarters on the night, finishing with 14-points on the night. 

"We appeared to be in pretty good shape and had decent execution on the offensive end as well." said Botsch.  "Overall, a good first game for us.”

It's often said "you can't win them all if you don't win the first one" and the Mules have the right start for a good season with a 1-0 record.  They will play again on Thursday night in the semi-final bracket of the tournament against the Twin Rivers Royals.  Game time will begin at 6:00 pm.

• Dominic Homan won by fall over Bennett Robinson (Cape)
• Devon Helm lost by fall to Khalil Reed (Cape)
• Logan Elder won by fall over Luke Blaton (Sikeston)
• Jake Adams won by fall over Thomas Lankheit (Sikeston)
• Dustin DeBeaux lost by fall to Dennis Jordan (Cape)
• Clay Henson lost by fall to Jorge Gonzales (Sikeston)
• Clayton Riddle won by fall over Andrew Hunter (Sikeston)
• Austin Adams won by decision over David Valdez (Sikeston)
• Trenten Williams lost by decision in Ovetime to Trent Leimer (Cape)
• Tres Hampton won by fall over Anthony Strack (Cape)
• Jacob Sauvage lost by fall to Dionte Reeds (Cape)
• Blayne Goodman lost by fall to Maverick Turner (Cape)
• Dominic Homan won by fall over Logan McCabe (Sikeston)
• Austin Adams won by fall over Max Ault (Sikeston)
• Trevor Watts lost by fall to Jonathan Bonnert (Cape)
• Jake Adams won by fall over Bryce Johnson (Sikeston)
• Ethan Gillum won by fall over Jordan Wheatley (Sikeston)
• Christian Yarber won by decision over Zach Turner (Cape)
• Justin Bess lost by fall to Jorge Gonzales (Sikeston)
• Cory Holland won by fall over Ben Martin (Sikeston)
• Chris Seabaugh lost by fall to Khalil Reed (Cape)

The Middle School Wrestlers will be back in action on December 4th when they face off against the Poplar Bluff Mules.  The action will begin at 4:00 PM at the Dexter High School Gym.  The High School team will also be in action that same night following the middle school match.  The junior varsity and varsity Bearcats will take on the NMCC Eagles at 6:00 in the first home duel of the 2012-13 wrestling season.

Written by

Jessica Snider, SMT Writer

With fall sports coming to an end a few weeks ago, all winter sports have been in full practice mode gearing up for their games and matches.

Many people have been highly anticipating the start of Bearcat Basketball. There’s just something different about basketball at Dexter now that the games are played in the Bearcat Event Center. There’s a new sense of pride coming from each Bearcat who steps foot through those doors to watch a sporting event.

Both boys and girls basketball have the privilege of practicing and also playing their home games in the Bearcat Event Center. Both the girls and boys Bearcat basketball will begin this week.

Coach Chad Allen is looking forward to the experience that is coming back on this team, but says this schedule is the toughest the girl’s basketball club has ever had.

The Dexter Lady Bearcat Basketball Team will open their season with the Farmington Tournament, which will begin tonight. Within the Farmington Tournament will be Miller Career Academy who beat Dexter in the state quarterfinals last year. Coach Allen hopes the Bearcats will get another shot at that team this year.

Many fans are highly anticipating this season of Lady Bearcat Basketball as they had yet another very impressive season last year.

The boys basketball team has been on the court for quite sometime in hopes of recovering from injuries that have hit two of the Bearcats’ three returning starters. Cody Neldon is out the with a year-ending knee injury, while Chase Young is hopeful to be back within the next few weeks after his fractured fibula.

The boys will kick off their season tomorrow night at home as they take on Charleston.

This will be a competitive season for both the girls and boys basketball team, but hopefully with the support of the fans and the impressive Bearcat coaching staff, each team will lead a victorious 2012-2013 season.

It’s important that the support of the fans remains constant throughout the season no matter what is going on. These are two teams that have proven to keep on fighting even when things get tough, and they will need that same reaction from their fans.

There are seniors on both the girls and boys teams who will be playing high school basketball for the last time this season.

Don’t forget to come out and support your Bearcat Basketball whenever you can!

JEFFERSON CITY–Hunters shot 204,668 deer during the November portion of Missouri’s firearms deer season, topping the past four years’ harvests and confirming predictions by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).

This year’s statewide November deer harvest is 7.7 percent more than last year and only 1.3 percent below the previous 10-year average.

Top harvest counties during the season Nov. 10 through 20 were Howell with 4,037, followed by Texas with 3,916 and Benton with 3,756. MDC recorded five nonfatal and three fatal firearms-related hunting incidents during the 11-day November firearms deer hunt.

County and regional harvest figures confirm the pre-season forecast by MDC Resource Scientist Jason Sumners. He predicted a strong harvest in southern Missouri because of a poor acorn crop. The southern half of the state is dominated by forest, so acorns play a much more important role in deer’s fall and winter diets there. Acorn scarcity forces deer to move more and concentrates them around limited food sources, making them easier for hunters to find.

Eight of the 10 top harvest counties were south of the Missouri River. A ninth county, Callaway, borders the Missouri River and contains a large percentage of forestland. Only Macon County bucked the trend of southern dominance.

Sumners says the Southeast Region reported the largest harvest increase at 30 percent, followed by the Ozark Region, with a 24-percent increase. Other regional increases were St. Louis, 18 percent; Southwest, 17 percent; and Central, 10 percent. MDC recorded harvest decreases of 6 percent in the Kansas City and Northeast regions and a 9-percent decrease in the Northwest Region.

Sumners says the decline in north Missouri’s deer harvest mirrors a decline in deer populations there in the past 10 years. Meanwhile, deer numbers have increased slowly across southern Missouri. He said both trends are the result of MDC’s efforts to maximize hunting opportunity while avoiding unacceptable levels of property damage and deer-vehicle collisions.

Sumners noted that does made up approximately 44 percent of the November deer harvest, a 10-percent increase from last year.

“The increase in doe harvest is somewhat indicative of growing deer numbers in southern Missouri,” says Sumners. “However, it is concerning if doe harvest increased in counties hit hard by hemorrhagic diseases. This could significantly set back deer populations in some areas to the point where it might take some time to recover.”

Nevertheless, said Sumners, “Missouri has a strong, healthy deer herd. Careful management and strong citizen support for game laws allow us to adjust to changes like this and enhance the social and economic benefits that go with deer hunting.”