The S&T Lady Miners have had slowed down this season with their past few games ending in losses, but their season is picking back up after their victory over the Springfield, Illinois Prairie Stars. The Lady Miners came out on top with a six point gap between them and their opponents with a final score of 63-57. In the last quarter of the game, the Lady Miners scored a total of 22 points while their opponents could only manage a mere 6 points.
The Dexter community is proud to have Katelyn Heil, a graduate from Dexter High School, playing for the Lady Miners at S&T in Rolla for the past three years. Heil has had a great season and we will continue to cheer her on as her team gets closer to the final tournaments that will end this year’s basketball season.
The first points of the game were given to the Lady Miners after Katelyn Heil got her hands on the ball and gave it to her open teammate, who buried the first shot of the game. The Lady Miners had the lead stolen from them after having five turnovers within just a few minutes. The Prairie Stars scored 11 straight points and the Lady Miners were trailing behind.
The Lady Miners were slowly cutting the lead but were down by ten with a pair of free throws from Heil and a three pointer from her teammate with only a few minutes left in the first half. There was a chance to cut the lead even more but the Lady Miners lost their shot and the first half ended with the Prairie Stars in the lead.
When the second half started, the Lady Miners were on fire and closed the point gap. S&T was down by only four points but they quickly lost their gain again when the Prairie Stars scored another 8 straight points. There was still hope for the Lady Miners and they pulled through and kept level heads as they scored 11 out of the 13 points, bringing them only one point away from their opponents.
The Lady Miners took the lead but it was lost shortly after when the Prairie Stars continued to score. The Lady Miners turned things around and made an amazing comeback with only ten minutes on the clock until the buzzer. The Lady Miners held the Prairie Stars back, not allowing them to score at all. Heil shot four free throws while her teammate sunk a jump shot, bringing the Lady Miners ahead. With the Prairie Stars not able to score, the Lady Miners shot another free throw and sealed the game with a win.
Bernie, Missouri - On Friday, February 15th, the Bernie Mules celebrated their Homecoming night by putting up a tough game for the Sikeston Bulldogs. Although the game resulted in a loss for the home team, it was still a great game and there were many milestones that took place throughout the night.
David Baker has played for the Mules for the last four years of his high school basketball career and on Friday, his coach and teammates were happy to celebrate his 1000th point with him. It was an amazing opportunity and honor to receive such an outstanding achievement.
When the game first started, Sikeston took the lead in the first quarter of the game, where they pulled ahead by only four points. The Mules put up a fight against the visitors as BJ Jennings sunk two three pointers during the first quarter. The Bulldogs retaliated by doing the exact same thing and tossing up a layup.
In the second quarter, the Mules inched closer as they continue to score and began to push through Sikeston’s defense. The home team outscored the Bulldogs by two points, but began to close the point gap between the two teams. The score of the second quarter was 31 to 29 with the Bulldogs barely holding onto the lead. Senior David Baker of the Bernie Mules scored a total of eight points by getting four two pointers on the Bulldogs while his teammate, Jennings, snuck in and got another three pointer.
The Mules were making a comeback but let the lead slip out from under them. The Sikeston Bulldogs pulled sixteen points out of the third quarter and as the time quickly ticked away, the Bernie Mules only managed to score five points throughout the eight minutes. Senior Sam Turner shot a three pointer while Baker put in a layup. The Bulldogs stole and kept the lead for the rest of the night and the Bernie Mules slowly fell more and more behind. Sikeston’s player, Vashawn Ruffin, scored seven points and helped his teammates bring up the lead.
“We really struggled offensively in the 3rd quarter,” Bernie’s coach, Brad Botsch, explained. “Credit Sikeston for turning up the pressure and when they did, we did not respond well. They got a lot of easy buckets on us off of turnovers and we just couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
During the fourth quarter, the Bernie fans were hoping for another comeback and the Bernie Mules began to score again, slowly coming closer to their opponents, who were playing the field nicely. In the final quarter, the Bulldogs shot a total of eighteen points while the home team only scored fourteen. Baker scored eight of the fourteen points and he and his team put up a great fight against the Bulldogs. The final score was 65 to 48, but it was an overall great game for both sides of the court.
“We knew coming off a loss, that they were going to be ready to come in and annihilate us. However, I thought our kids came out super focused and played a great first half defensively,” Botsch says. “When we are focused and intense, we are capable of playing great defense. We also did a good job against their press in the first half and were poised and composed the entire half. Overall, we can take some positives from this game that should help us prepare for districts next week. Playing Sikeston right before districts is great for us win or lose, and hopefully we’ll be 100% ready to go next week.”
The Mules have been preparing for their next game, which will take place tonight at 5:30pm at the Bloomfield District Tournament against Senath.
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
There will be six young men graduating from the basketball team this year, Jonathan Page, Brad Potts, Austin Richardson, Chase Young, Ryan Joyner and Jordan Miller. From the cheerleading squad, Brooke Duckworth, Sydney Graves, Jessica Norman, and Brooke Stoker will also be graduating in May. Bethany Christian is the Senior from the Kickin' Cats who is graduating.
Bethany Christian is the seventeen year old daughter of Steven and Cheryl Christian. She has been a football cheerleader all four years, played softball two years, and has been a member of the Kickin' Cats Dance Squad for three years. Bethany is a member of FCA, FCCLA, Student Council, DECA, and is President of FTA. She plans to attend the Southeast Missouri State University Campus in Sikeston and major in Elementary Education.
Brooke Duckworth is the seventeen year old daughter of black and Rhonda Duckworth. She has been a basketball and football cheerleader all four years. Brooke is a member of FCA, FTA and DECA. Brooke plans to attend the University of Missouri and major in Journalism.
Sydney Graves is the eighteen year old daughter of Michelle Kirkley and Chris Graves. She has been a basketball cheerleader all four years, a football cheerleader one year, ran track one year and played volleyball one year. She is a member of student council, FTA, FCA, FBLA, FCCLA, and is the treasurer of the Dexter Honor Society. Sydney plans to attend Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and major in Phsical Therapy.
Ryan Joyner is the eighteen year old son of Stand and Anita Joyner. He has played basketball for three years, football all four years, golf for three years and ran track for three years. He is member of FCA, Rotary Interact, Dexter Honor Society, Top 10 Percent, and is the Senior Class Vice President. Ryan has received an appointment to the U.S. Navy Academy and will major in Mechanical Engineering.
Jordan Miller is the eighteen year old son of Jeff and Kim Miller. He has played basketball and football three years and baseball four year. He is a member of FCA. Jordan plans to attend the University of Missouri and major in Biomedical Engineering.
Jessica Norman is the eighteen year old daughter of Christy and Dallas Norman. She has been a basketball cheerleader all four years and a football cheerleader one year. She is a member of FTA, FCA, DECA, and Rowdy Gals. Jessica plans to attend the University of Missouri - Columbia.
Jonathan Page is the eighteen year old son of Michelle and David Page. He played football all four years and basketball three years. Jonathan plans to attend Three Rivers College and major in Health Sciences.
Brad Potts is the seventeen year old son of Randy and Peggy Potss. He has played basketball and baseball all four years. He is a member of FTA and FCA. Brad plans to attend college, play baseball and major in Business.
Austin Richardson is the eighteen year old son of Deanna O'Neal. He has played basketball three years and ran track four years. Austin plans to attend Southeast Missouri State University, run track and major in Physical Therapy.
Brooke Stoker is the eighteen year old daughter of Craig and Deffery Stocker. She played volleyball one year and has been a basketball cheerleader for three years. She is a member of FCA, FTA, DECA and FCCLA. Brooke plans to attend Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and major in Elementary Education.
Chase Young is the eight year old son of Marty and Christine Young. he has played basketball and baseball all four years and football three years. He is a member of FCA, FTA and Dexter Honor Society. Chase plans to attend the University of Tennessee at Martin and major in Pre-Medicine.
These are the young men and women have provided the fans of DHS with many nights of exciting basketball action and entertainment. They have devoted countless hours of practice and preparation. Their fellow team members, classmates, teachers, and the fans will miss their dedication that they have made to our extracurricular programs and our school community.We wish them the best and appreciate all that they have done while attending Dexter Public Schools.
Written by
Jessica Snider, SMT Writer
Tonight the Dexter Bearcats will take on Scott City in the Bearcat Event Center. Junior Varsity will start things off at 6:00 P.M. with the Varsity Bearcats following directly after.
Not only is tonight the last home game for the Bearcats, but also tonight is senior night. The seniors will be recognized in between the Junior Varsity and Varsity games.
Come out to the Bearcat Event Center tonight to cheer on the Bearcats and help make the recognition of all the seniors extra special!
Good luck Bearcats!
Dexter, Missouri - Celebration was in the air at the Bearcat Event Center as the Dexter Lady Bearcats enjoyed both Valentine's Day and Senior Night on Thursday, February 14th as the Twin Rivers Lady Royals came to town.
The Lady Cats trailed at 1-0 in the first few seconds of the game, but that was the closest Twin Rivers would ever see on the scoreboard. The Bearcats scored 21 of the next 25 points to lead at the end of the first quarter 21 - 5.
They forced the ball inside to Brittany Harris #24 and Paige Patterson #22 for their first eight points. After that, Alison Jarrell #12 and Hanah Noe #10 scored from the outside.
It was more of the same in the second quarter as Jarrell hit a three pointer, Brittany Harris scored nine in the quarter (including her first three pointer of the season) on her way to an 18 point first half. Erika Cobb #15 and Hanah Noe also scored to give the Lady Bearcats an overwhelming 42-16 halftime lead.
Coach Chad Allen was pleased with the defensive performance tonight. "I thought that we played the best four quarters of defense that we have played all season. Everyone that played tonight played great defense!"
The Lady Cats continued their great defense as the third quarter started, forcing three of the 33 Lady Royal turnovers in the first minute of the second half. Paige Patterson #22 and Mollie Whitehead #3 both contributed extremely well on both ends of the floor, with Patterson scoring nine and Whitehead four with Mollie adding two assists.
Dexter outscored Twin Rivers 31 - 11 in the second half to finish the Valentine's evening with a 73-27 victory. There a few fans in the audience from the Boys Basketball Team! They were cheering the girls to their awesome victory. Way to go Lady Bearcats!
The Lady Cats two seniors, Katelynn Frazier #5 and Brittany Harris #24 were honored in pregame activities.
Prior to the varsity game the JV Lady Cats moved to 10-0 on the season with a 49-46 victory. Due go some injuries and illnesses, the young Lady Cats were forced to play the final minute of the game with only four players.
The varsity travels to West Plains on Saturday, February 16th to take on the Republic Lady Tigers, the 2nd ranked team in class 4. Game time is at 4 p.m. and will be broadcasted on Life 90.3 FM.
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Check out the ShowMe Times Facebook page for more exciting photos of the Lady Bearcats as they defend their home turf against Twin Rivers.
