Dexter, Missouri - The Lady Bearcats will be headed to Columbia for the ShowMe Showdown Final Four Championship games following the Pep Rally at the Bearcat Event Center at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday morning.  With a record of 26-3, they have had one awesome season!  Now they face undefeated Incarnate Word with an impressive record of 29-0. 

Game time is 6:50 p.m. Thursday, March 14^th.

 

This is only the second trip to the ladies state tournament in the school’s history.  The last time was in 2009.   These girls are impressive.  They have set the bar high and have been working towards this dream for four years.  They are inspired, excited, dedicated, and committed to winning.  No matter win or lose Thursday night, they are heroes to Dexter Bearcat fans.  This small town is alive with Bearcat Fever!  The girls’ motto of One Team One Dream has become everyone’s motto. 

 

Who is Incarnate Word?  It is a private, all female Catholic Academy located in St. Louis, Missouri.  There are about 380 female students and 100% of their graduates go on to college and universities.  They are dedicated to their basketball team, no different than Dexter.  They practice daily, no different than Dexter.  They are good and so are the Lady Cats.  Do not estimate the Dexter Bearcats, as they want to win just as much or more than the Red Knights.

 

Coach Allan knows his team, he believes in his girls.  He knows they have it in them to WIN!  Incarnate Word may be ranked #1 in the state, but the Lady Bearcats are #1 in our hearts and we love them.  They are heroes to so many young students and each year they inspire girls to try-out for high school basketball.  They are model citizens, leaders in our community, admired by many and well respected in Dexter. 

 

The Red Knights can be defeated!  They are not immortal and they are not unbeatable.  Dexter is ranked #11 in the state according to MaxPreps and is 5-0 in the District. 

Incarnate Word fell to Class 5 Rock Bridge in the semifinals last season, but then dropped down to Class 4 this year.  The schools they have been playing are smaller and the challenge was just not there.  On the other hand Dexter has stepped up this year and has an extremely tough group of competitors all year long.

 

It’s anyone’s game Thursday night, but one thing is for sure…….Lady Bearcats are #1 in the hearts of everyone in Dexter and we are proud you represent us in the Final Four.  Whether on or off the court these ladies are awesome!  You got this!  Go Cats!

 

The ShowMe Times will be in Columbia catching all the action and will update throughout the Final Four ShowMe Showdown. 

You can also watch from your computer on the 2013 MSHSAA Class 4 Girls Basketball Semifinal #1 (Event): Missouri: PlayOn! Sports on the website www.mshsaa.playonsports.com as they will have it live.

Dexter, Missouri – The Dexter High School welcomes new Head Football Coach Justin Peden.  He is the head coach of the Hayti Indians Football program.

Coach Peden is not a native to Missouri, but is originally from Bolivar, Ohio. This small town is about twenty minutes south of Canton, Ohio.  He graduated from Tusky Valley High School in 1997 and attended Heidelberg College, where he played offensive line.

Coach Peden finished his degree at the University of Central Arkansas, where he was a member of Phi Alpha Theta, an honors society for History majors.  While living in Little Rock he met his wife, Jennifer.  They have been married for eight years and have a wonderful son Jaxson, who is three.

Coach Peden has been at Hayti for seven years, the last two years as head coach.  His team won the SEMO South Conference Title in 2011 with an undefeated conference record.  He was named SEMO South Coach of the Year award.

During his time at Hayti his offense has set numerous school records, including most points in a game in 2012.  He prides himself on running a program that the players and the community can be proud of.  At Hayti he taught American History and American Government, raising the state test scores 45 and 58 percent respectively.

“I am very proud and excited to be named the new Head Coach at Dexter High School,” state Coach Peden.  “I am ready to hit the ground running and put a product on the field that will be exciting to watch and create a sense of pride for both my players and the community.”

“I realize that a great responsibility has been given to me and I do not take that lightly, continued coach.   “I know that with hard work from the coaches, the players, and myself we will be successful.”

 

Written by

Jessica Snider, SMT Writer

Dexter, MO- Tonight at Dexter High School, coaches will be honoring players of each winter sport at the 2013 Winter Sports Banquet.

The sporting participants to be recognized will be those from: boys and girls basketball, wrestling, basketball cheerleading, and dance team.

Senior players/participants will be recognized along with individual athletes who will receive awards.

All winter sports have drawn to a conclusion with the exception of the Lady Bearcat Basketball team who will be traveling to Columbia on Thursday for state competition.

Evansville, Indiana - The Missouri S&T Lady Miners shot only 29 percent from the field (19-for-66) in its 50-42 loss to the Lewis Flyers in the quarterfinal round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Friday evening at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The game was tight throughout with two ties and eight lead changes.

Lewis, seeded first, led for the early portions of the contest, but S&T (16-12), seeded eighth, got on track taking its first lead of the game at the 13:14 mark on a jumper by Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein). The Lady Miners stretched the lead to three on a jumper by Erica Askew (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park), but the Flyers (22-5) scored four straight to regain the lead by the midway point of the half. 

S&T answered back scoring six of the next eight points to regain its three-point edge. It had some chances to extend the lead but missed five shots and turned it over a couple of times. Lewis took advantage scoring nine straight points to build its biggest lead of the half at 23-17 after a layup by Nikki Nellen with 1:25 left in the half.

Senait McLeod (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef) hit a jumper from the corner to make it 23-19 and Kylie Cooper (Andover, Kan./Andover) had a chance to make it a one possession game but her jumper wouldn't stay down. 

The Flyers scored nine points off of eight Lady Miner turnovers and shot 36 percent (11-for-31) from the floor. They were 0-of-6 from three and 1-for-2 at the line. Mariyah Henley led the way with six points while Sam Rinehart, Jess Reinhart and Kristen Itschner added four each.

S&T was only 9-of-33 (27.3 percent) from the field, 0-for-2 from three and 1-for-2 at the foul line. The Lady Miners outrebounded Lewis 25-20 and were led in scoring by Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) with seven points. Knar added four more. 

S&T got off to a good start in the second half scoring seven of the first eight points to take a 27-26 lead on a free throw by Cooper with 15:13 left in the contest. It would be its last lead of the night as Lewis with an 8-1 run to retake the lead and push it to 34-28 on a 3-point play by Henley at the 11:25 mark.

The Lady Miners cut it to four on a jumper from Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton), but the Flyers got back-to-back baskets from J. Reinhart pushing the lead to 38-30. The lead grew to 45-33 on a jumper by Itschner with 4:17 to play. 

S&T ran off nine straight to get within 45-42 with 0:41 left, but Lewis went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final 0:35 to end the game.

The Lady Miners shot 30.3 percent from the field in the second half, but was 0-for-8 from three and 3-of-7 at the foul line. Parks finished with a double-double scoring a game-high 12 points and added 10 rebounds. Knar and Katelyn Heil (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) added six points apiece. S&T grabbed a season-high 48 rebounds and outrebounded Lewis by nine. 

The Flyers finished the game shooting 37 percent (21-for-57) from the field, was 0-of-11 from three and 8-for-12 at the foul line. Henley and Reinhart were the lone Flyers in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Dexter, Missouri - The Lady Bearcats were ready for action as they battled for a place in the ShowMe Showdown Final Four and the only thing standing in their way was the Rosati-Kain Kougars.  The girls played at the Farmington Civic Center Saturday night following the Sikeston Bulldogs with their win over Gateway.

Sikeston (26-2) will play in Columbia on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. taking on the Normandy Vikings (19-8) of St. Louis, Missouri. 

It will truly be raining Cats and Dogs in Columbia on Thursday as the Bulldogs and Bearcats descend on the Mizzou Nation!  Southeast Missouri will be well represented with the Lady Cats and the Bulldogs in the house!  Red and Black will be the color of the evening and not the usual black and gold, as both teams will play on Thursday, March 14th at the Mizzou Arena.

The Rosati-Kein Kougers may have scored first, but the Lady Cats were not going to let them take this game from them.  “The girls played well,” stated head coach Chad Allen.  “I am so excited for our two seniors and for all of the girls.  They have worked hard and it will be a great experience for all of them in Columbia.”

“Rosati-Kein came out inspired and played a good game.  They were shooting 75% from the line and they played well.  They wanted to win for their coach who is leaving this year,” continued Coach Allen.  “We just played better and our girls kept their composure!”

Both teams had quite a cheering section.  On either end of the court one could see the red and black of the Bearcats and the purple and gold of the Kougars.  The students yelled back and forth during the half-time for our entertainment.  They were really cheering for the girls as they ran up and down the court and sank baskets.  We are proud of their school spirit and enthusiasm for the girls' basketball teams.

Just before the half, Dexter increased its lead to 32-20, but the Kougars wouldn't go away.  They were able to stay between fourteen and nine points behind throughout the third period.  This paved the way for their 4th quarter comeback attempt.

Hannah Noe, #10 was on fire tonight with a game high 21 points.  She hit three baskets in the first period and two 3-pointers in the second period.  She was also perfect at the line hitting 6 for 6.

Brittany Harris, #24 after having a perfect game on Wednesday was hitting the basket very well tonight contributing 16 points for the Bearcats.  She hit six baskets and was perfect at the line hitting four for four of her free-throws.

Mollie Whitehead contributed two 3-pointers in the game and was 2 for 2 at the free throw line totaling 8 points.  Makayla Waldner, #30 and Katelyn Frazier, #5 had four points each.  Makayla scored two free throws and one basket and Katelyn with a basket in the first period. 

Others contributing points for the Lady Cats were Paige Patterson, #22 with a basket in the third period and Erika Cobb, #15 scoring basket, a 3-pointer and was 4 for 4 at the free throw line.

Not only were they playing well they were perfect from the free-throw line hitting 18 for 18.  Way to go Bearcats!

"That's a very good basketball team," Rosati coach Meghan Taylor stated.  "I intentionally didn't tell my girls how good before the game.  People thought we were at a 30-point underdog and we cut it to six late."

Coach Taylor continued, "I think they just had too many weapons.  We couldn't key on one or two finishers.  In the end they overwhelmed us."

The Dexter Lady Bearcats proved to be too much for the Rosat-Kain Kougrs in a 64-43 win.  The Lady Cats (26-3) will now face Incarnate Word Academy High School (29-0), a private all girls school in St. Louis, Missouri.  They are the Red Knights and their colors are red and gold. 

Game time is 6:50 p.m. at the Mizzou Arena on Thursday.