Ste. Genevieve, Missouri - The fourth seeded Dexter boys basketball team for the second time this season beat the Perryville Pirates with a 69 - 57 victory in the MSHSAA Class 4, District 1 quarterfinal at Ste. Genevieve on Saturday, February 25, 2017.

Dexter trailed Perryville by as much as 6 points in the first quarter similar to their game earlier in the season.  The Bearcats battled back and by half-time they led 30 - 24.

They scored nearly half of their points off of offensive rebounds including several in the third quarter when they made their biggest point run of the evening.

"I just believe we were in the open floor, ahead of them and it seemed like we had a lot of 3-on-2, 4-on-3 opportunities and we just took advantage of the situations," commented Dexter head basketball coach Josh Dowdy. "If we didn't make the first basket we followed it up nicely.  They ran us and it allowed us to spread the floor and get to the rim a little more in the third quarter."

Clay Mullins finished with a game-high 22 points for Dexter.  He had nine two-pointers and was 4/8 at the charity stripe.

Dawson Kasting performed well as the sixth man against the Pirates.  He came off the bench scoring 14 points and five take aways for the Bearcats.

"I hate to mention just one player of a game, but my goodness our sixth man came off the bench and put on a show for us tonight," Dowdy said of Kasting.  "He always gets minutes, but he is better off the bench and he is waiting his turn.  He's just an energy guy and he played his role.  Whatever he ate today, he needs to have it again on Monday."

Gabe Jackson tallied 12 points for the Bearcats. He had six field goals.

Dexter (17-10) will face top-seeded Sikeston in the MSHSAA Class 4, District 1 semifinals at 6:00 p.m. Monday, February 27, 2017 in Ste. Genevieve.

"We just appreciate the opportunity," Dowdy said of battling against the Bulldogs. "We have had a great season and I am proud of the kids.  We are just going to come play th egame and you never know what could happen." Sikeston's record is 21-4.

Final Score Dexter 69, Perryville 57

Dexter    19   11   23   16  -  69

Perryville 14  10  16  17  -  57

Dexter (69) - Jason Jarrell 8, Ben Sindle 9, Clay Mullins 22, Dawson Kasting 14, Ryan Mayo 4, Gabe Jackson 12. FG 30, FT 6/11, F 11. (3-pointers: Sindle 3, Fouled Out: None)

Perryville (57) - Aaron Mueller 7, Garrett Dix 10, Josh Robinson 15, Jeff Reisenbichler 19, Chase Brown 4, Brandon Renaud 2. FG 25, FT 3/6, F 13. (3-pointers: Dix 1, Robinson 1, Reisenbichler 2. Fouled Out: None).