Rolla, Missouri - Katelyn Heil, a graduate from Dexter High School, had a great game the other night on the S&T Lady Miners Basketball Team in Rolla, Missouri, where they battled it out against the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons on their home court. Although the team lost to their rival in over time by a mere four points, Heil and her teammates still played a great game of basketball and proved their strength and endurance for a majority of the night to their fans and coaches.
This is the second game that the Lady Miners have lost on their home court in past week but things will hopefully be looking up for the team and players later in the week when they travel to Springfield, Illinois to play their old opponent the Prairie Stars. As the basketball season draws closer to an end, it is believable that the players are getting anxious as they enter into their final games of the year. Things will soon look up for the Lady Miners as they prepare for the Great Valley Conference Tournament that will take place early next month on March 3rd.
In the game against the Tritons, the Lady Miners lost due to multiple turnovers. The Tritons dominated the Lady Miners on their home court by receiving a total of thirty-eight points from the home team due to turnovers, while the Lady Miners only received thirteen points from their opponent.
The game was quick paced and a bit frustrating for both teams due to the turnovers and fouls. For most of the game, the home team held a strong lead but began to slip in the final quarter. In the fourth quarter with only five minutes left on the clock, the Lady Miners were above their competition with a score of 56 to 47. The Lady Miners began to lose track of the ball and the opposing team successfully scored ten straight points not allowing the Lady Miners to score at all and officially pulling ahead of the home team by only one point.
In the final seconds of the game, the Lady Miners purposely fouled an opposing player to buy some time in hope of a rebound. One out of the two shots was made and the Lady Miners got the rebound and was able to tie up the game after another foul and a number of free throws. With only one second left on the clock, the Tritons almost took the win but were called for a double dribble.
When overtime began, the home team quickly took the lead but the lead was reversed minutes later when the Tritons pulled out another five point streak by the making of two free throws and a three pointer. Heil attempted to make a three pointer but the ball circled the rim slowly. With the help of her teammate, the ball nearly went in but the attempt had failed and the Triton’s defense, quickly swooped in to get the rebound.
Heil fouled a Triton player and her team got the rebound but lost the ball in a turnover, which was their main fault earlier in the game that had cost them many points. The Tritons eventually took the win in the end. Heil made a total of five points and helped her team out tremendously during their battle against the Tritons. The Lady Miners will be playing in Springfield, Illinois on Valentine’s Day (Thursday) and will hopefully turn their season around.
The Dexter community is proud to have Heil representing them in Rolla at S&T as she plays her final year of basketball for the Lady Miners team.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
David Baker #31 was impressive and lead his team to the win with his 40 points on the evening. He sunk sixteen baskets, one 3-pointer and made five of six field goal attempts. What an awesome night for David Baker.
"Our Seniors stepped up tonight. After the Hayti loss, we have really talked about having a sense of urgency going into districts. for the seniors, it is their last opportunity. they have to go all in and make everyone follow them. I thought int he second half, they did just that," state Coach Brad Botsch, Head Basketball Coach for the Bernie Mules.
"Coach Long really challenged them at half time to provide the spark and be the energy for us and they answered," continued Coach Botsch.
Sam Turner #45 also had a pretty good night for the Bernie Mules. He scored 22 points hitting four 3-pointers. Turner also was perfect at the line with two field goals.
B.J. Jennings #12 was also in double digits for the Mules as he scored 10 points during the game. Jennings hit two 3-pointers, one in the second quarter and one in the fourth quarter.
Coach Botsch stated, "We played with much more focus on the defensive end tonight. We must continue to work hard this coming week in anticipation of districts. If we play well, I think we're a good enough team to win it. We are going to look forward to the challenge."
Bernie's record is improved to 19-5 for the season and are the #2 seed for the District Tournament at Bloomfield on February 18th where they will play against Senath-Hornersville at 5:30 p.m.
The Bernie Mules are in action again tonight, Tuesday, February 12th playing the Richland Rebels on their court. Game time is 6:00 p.m.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Bloomfield, Missouri – The Class 2, District 1 seeds have been released. Bloomfield High School will be hosting this year’s tournament, which will begin on February 16th.
Hayti (16-6) has received the #1 seed and is the defending champion in the district and placed third at the Class 2 final four last season.
Bernie is seeded #2 with an 18-5 record, Holcomb is seeded #3 with a 19-4 record, Portageville (11-9) is seeded #4, South Pemiscot (13-8) is seeded #5, Bloomfield is seeded #6 with a 12-10 record, Senath-Hornersville (6-14) is seeded #7, Campbell (7-13) is seeded #8 and Cooter (2-16) is seeded #9.
Cooter will play Campbell to begin the tournament on February 16th at 12:30 p.m. Hayti will then take on the winner of the Campbell-Cooter game on February 18th at 4 p.m.
Bernie will play Senath-Hornersville on February 18th at 5:30 p.m. Following that game, Holcomb will play Bloomfield at 7 p.m. and Portageville will play South Pemiscot at 8:30 p.m.
The semifinal games will take place on February 20th at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The championship game will be played on February 22nd at 7:30 p.m.
The Dexter community is extremely proud of the Lady Cats as they will begin their Class 4 District 1 Girls Tournament on Monday, February 25th. The Lady Cats are the #1 seed and will play the winner of the Kennett Lady Indians vs Perryville Lady Pirates game which will be held on Saturday, February 23rd.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Dexter, Missouri - The Lady Bearcats are the #1 seed in the Class 4 District 1 Missouri Girls Basketball with a 19-2 record they will be a tough team to beat. Cape Girardeau’s private school, Notre Dame is second with an 18-5 records on the year. Four other teams will be competing for the District Championship. Cape Central Lady Tigers with a 9-13 record, Kennett Indians 14-9 record, Perryville Pirate 12-7 for the year and the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs with a 5-13 record.
Games begin on February 23rd at 1:00 p.m. at the Bearcat Event Center with Cape Central playing Sikeston. Following this game at 2:30 will be the Kennett Lady Indians taking on the Perryville Lady Pirates. The winner of this game will try to beat the Dexter Lady Cats on Monday, February 25th at 6:00 p.m. Notre Dame will play the winner of the Cape Central/Sikeston game on Monday, February 25th at 7:30 p.m.
The District Championship game will be played on Thursday, February 28th at 6:00 p.m. Good luck Lady Cats! We hope to see you win it all!
