Let's Hear It For the Bearcats!

The Dexter Seventh Grade Boys Basketball Team hosted a tournament Saturday with teams from Advance, Bloomfield, Doniphan, Park Hills, Piedmont and Poplar Bluff participating in the double-elimination tournament. Dexter Team members include (front row, from left) Ethan Flowers, Jacob Pedigo, Austin Chesser, Tyler Heil, and Alex Whitehead; (back row, from left) Cody Pullum, Addison Moore, Chandler Young, Cole Renken, and Jacob Crumley. Coaching the team are Chris Guethle (left) and Chris Hyten (right) Congratulations, fellows! 

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - In the final game of the Class 4, District 1 Tournament, the No. 3 Notre Dame Bulldogs battled the No. 1 Sikeston Bulldogs. Sikeston held the lead the first three quarters of the contest, but a late offensive surge by Notre Dame saw the ND Bulldogs up by a point early in the fourth quarter. The two teams swapped leads for nearly a minute, but the offensive juggernaut of Sikeston exploded late, putting up 5 points in 10 seconds, and jumping to a 66-52 victory for the District Championship.

Willian Holifield dropped in the first of his four threes for Sikeston early in the first quarter. Sikeston’s defense shut Notre Dame down in the first quarter, and the only shot from the field they gave up was a Joseph Siebert three with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter. Sikeston held a 12-6 lead after the first quarter of play.

Siebert hit his second three of the night for Notre Dame midway through the second quarter, and teammate Jacob Tolbert chipped in five points and four rebounds in the frame. Caleb McGee and Holifield both knocked down trey’s for Sikeston to give the Bulldogs a 28-20 lead going into halftime.

Notre Dame’s picked up their play in the third, holding Sikeston to just 12 points and putting up 20 in the frame. Nathan Meystedt had a big quarter for Notre Dame, contributing 10 points and helping tie the game at 40 apiece after the third.

Sikeston’s offense exploded in the fourth quarter, with Holifield putting in nine points and Janeil Hatchett scoring eight. After a huge play at the 3:15 mark, with Hatchett making a layup, picking off the ensuing inbounds pass, and dumping the ball to Corey Porter for a three point play, the game was Sikeston’s to the end. The Sikeston Bulldogs came out on top over Notre Dame, claiming the District Championship with a 66-52 final score.



With the victory, Sikeston will move on to face Farmington Wednesday (March 2) at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.

Photos above Top Photo: Sikeston’s Vashawn Ruffin drives against Notre Dame’s Nathan Meystedt during Friday night’s District Championship game.
Bottom photo: Kl’Ron Coleman tries to squeeze a shot between Notre Dame’s Joseph Seibert (No. 14) and Jacob Tolbert (No. 32).

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
SIKESTON	12	16	12	26	66
NOTRE DAME	6	14	20	12	52

SIKESTON: Hoifield-20. Hatchett-14. C. Porter-14. Jamison-8. McGee-3. Ruffin-2. Howard-2. Gibson-2. Warfield-1.


 NOTRE DAME: Meystedt-16. Tolbert-13. Seibert-6. Beussink-5. Londewer-4. Heisserer-4. Hayes-2. Lynch-2.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

DEXTER, Mo. - After a highly impressive season and great showing in the semifinal round of the Class 4, District 1 Tournament, the young Dexter Lady Bearcats, starting three freshman and two sophomores Friday (Feb. 25) night, faced off against the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs in the District Championship game. After a hard-fought contest, the Lady Bearcats emerged District Champions, defeating Notre Dame with a 56-52 final score.

Hannah Noe dropped in a quick layup for the first points of the night, but Nichole Blattel hit a 10-foot jumper two minutes later to tie the game at two. Dexter’s defense stepped up early, and didn’t allow another field goal until there was less than a minute on the clock in the first quarter. Noe hit a three for the Lady ‘Cats at the 4:30 mark to put Dexter back on top, and hit another trey two minutes later. Alison Jarrell continued to impress with her outside shooting ability, hitting her first of four threes with 1:15 left in the first. A steal and layup from Allyson Bradshaw with under a minute left in the quarter put Notre Dame behind by 10, and the score stayed at 14-4 until the end of the opening frame.

Erika Cobb dropped in a bucket after picking off a Notre Dame pass to start the second quarter. Bradshaw completed a three-point play at the 6:35 mark to bring the score to 16-7, with the Lady ‘Cats still holding the lead. Noe hit her second three of the night two minutes later, but Bradshaw answered with a three of her own with just under 3:00 left in the second. Brittany Harris blocked a jumper by Summer Burger with two minutes left in the half. Bradshaw stole the ball, dropped in a layup, and stole the ensuing inbounds pass with 21 seconds left on the clock to bring the score to 23-17. Jarrel hit her second three of the night with 15 seconds remaining. Cobb picked up a loose ball with 10 seconds left in the half, passed it off to Noe, who missed a 15-footer, but Paige Patterson was right there with a big offensive board and putback at the buzzer to give the Lady ‘Cats a 28-17 lead going into halftime.

Miranda Fowler came up with a steal for the Bulldogs just seven seconds into the third quarter, but Notre Dame was unable to score on the ensuing possession. Jarrell hit her third three of the night at the 7:00 mark, but was quickly answered by Fowler. Patterson came up with two steals for the Lady ‘Cats in the quarter, and the second led to a bucket from Harris. Bradshaw picked up a loose ball and hit a three-point play for Notre Dame with 4:45 left in the third quarter. Mollie Whitehead had an offensive rebound and putback for the ‘Cats at the 2:00 mark. Burger picked of an errant pass for the Bulldogs and dumped the ball of to Bradshaw for an easy bucket to end the third quarter. Notre Dame was able to cut Dexter’s lead to 44-36 after the third quarter.

Harris blocked a 12-footer from Burger to start the fourth quarter. Two free-throws from Bradshaw cut Dexter’s lead to six, but Jarrell again connected from three-point land to put the ‘Cats up 47-38. Burger had a chance for a three-point play at the 5:30 mark, but couldn’t connect on her free-throw attempt. Notre Dame’s age and strength advantage became apparent in the fourth quarter, with Bradshaw and Fowler owning the glass during the frame. Two steals from Nicole Blattel and one from Bradshaw allowed the Bulldogs to pull within one point of Dexter with just 2:15 left in the game. Harris was able to connect on one of two free-throws to put the ‘Cats back up by two. A huge bucket from Noe with just under 45 seconds put the Lady Bearcats up 54-52. Katelynn Frazier hit two of the biggest free-throws of her career for Dexter with 16 seconds left in the game to seal the victory at 56-52, and crown the Lady ‘Cats District Champions.

“We came off hot tonight offensively,” LBB head coach Chad Allen said after the trophy presentation. “Last time we played them, it was 27-18 going into halftime, but it was flipped around to where we had to make the comeback in the second half. Our girls found a way to win and knocked down some big free throws there at the end of the game.”

“Hannah [Noe] and Alison [Jarrell] both hit some big shots for us early on,” Allen commented on the Lady ‘Cats excellent outside shooting in the contest. “Brittany [Harris] got off to a cold start, but Alison and Hannah both stepped up while she [Harris] was struggling, until she got her game going.”


“[Allyson] Bradshaw, you could tell she didn’t want to lose this game,” Allen said of Notre Dame’s star senior. “You could tell that she just took over in the second half. She’s a great shooter, great scorer, but our girls just didn’t give up. They never put their heads down, they never quit playing. It seemed like we had three or four timeouts there in a short time span, and every time we got them over there we just tried to calm them down. When you have such a young team like this, its tough as a coach, but they kept on battling and got it done on the floor.”



With the victory, the Lady Bearcats improved to 18-9 on the year, and will move on to the first round of the state playoffs. They will face Farmington Wednesday (March 3) night at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

Photos above Top Photo: The Lady Bearcats raise their trophy after a close victory over Notre Dame Friday night.
Middle photo: Mollie Whitehead puts up a layup during the Lady 'Cats 56-52 victory.
Bottom photo: Katelynn Frazier drives past Notre Dame's Summer Burger (No. 13)

                                                                     

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	14	14	16	12	56
NOTRE DAME	4	13	19	16	52

DEXTER: Jarrell-14. Harris-13. Noe-13. Whitehead-7. Cobb-4. Frazier-3. Patterson-2.

NOTRE DAME: Bradshaw-31. Fowler-7. Burger-7. Blattel-7.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

The Bearcats needed one more win to make it to the championship game in the Class 4, District 1 tournament. Facing off against a Notre Dame team that the ‘Cats had split one-of-two games with during the regular season, Dexter couldn’t come up with the win in front of the hometown crowd, falling to the Bulldogs with a 45-38 final score.

Turnovers peppered the entire game for Dexter - Notre Dame’s Alex Beussink, Jacob Tolbert, and Joseph Siebert all had a steal in the first quarter, and Nathan Meystedt had two.


Jake Lee dropped in an easy two at the 7:30 mark to record Dexter’s first points of the night, but the ‘Cats wouldn’t score again until Alan Flannigan put in two quick jumpers with less than three minutes left in the first. Notre Dame put on a quick 11-0 run, aided by a three from Beussink at the 4:00 mark. After an offensive board and putback, Jacob Bollinger had a chance for a three-point play with 45 seconds left in the first, but couldn’t connect on the free throw. Notre Dame held a 14-8 lead after the opening frame.

Two free-throws from Flannigan at the 5:50 mark cut the Bulldogs’ lead to five points. A deep three from Miller at the 3:20 mark put the ‘Cats back by only two. Flannigan hit a 15-foot jumper to tie the game at 17 with just under three minutes left to play, and a layup from Jake Cox gave the ‘Cats their first lead of the night less than 30 seconds later. Bessink hit a jumper from the free-throw line to tie the game at 19 under a minute left on the clock, and a missed buzzer-beater from Jonathan Lynch sent the two teams into the locker room still tied at 19.


Notre Dame continued to nab up loose balls and errant passes from the Bearcats, with Cody Heisserer getting one steal and Lynch getting two. Flannigan blocked a Heisserer shot at the 6:00 mark. After a technical foul was called on Logan Robey, Lynch hit one-of-two free-throws for Notre Dame, as well as a three on the ensuing possession. Cox picked off a Beussink pass with 15 seconds left in the third, took it the length of the floor and missed his layup, but Flannigan was there with an offensive rebound and putback as time expired. The two teams were still tied after three quarters of play, 27-27.

Tolbert finally showed up offensively for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter, recording 11 points, including a three-point play. Jordan Fitts hit a three for the ‘Cats at the 6:10 mark to cut Notre Dame’s lead to two points, but a three from Beussink put the Bulldogs back up by 5 a minute later. Cox hit another three with less than a minute remaining in the game to pull the Bearcats within four, but a goaltending call on Miller on a Tolbert layup attempt stopped the Dexter surge. Tolbert held the dagger for the Bulldogs, however, and threw down a hard dunk with 10 seconds left in regulation to put the final score at 45-38.

“We felt like if we didn’t turn the basketball over and hit shots when we came down the floor, we had a good chance of winning this game, “ Dexter coach Rob Nichols said after the game. “We just had several spurts of turnovers. They were guarding us and getting good pressure, but a lot of it was unforced stuff, I think. You just can’t do that this time of year and expect to win ballgames.”

“I thought our effort was great, just our execution wasn’t the best at times,” Alan Flannigan said after the game. “They [Notre Dame] did a really good job of making us kick the ball out and take perimeter shots instead of scoring in the paint. We had a lot of turnovers, but you can’t fault our effort in this loss.”


 With tonight’s close loss to the Notre Dame Bulldogs, the Bearcats were eliminated from the District Tournament, putting an end to a solid season. The ‘Cats finished with a 14-12 record.


Dexter will lose six seniors this season - Jake Cox, Bryn Hester, Alan Flannigan, Logan Robey, Jacob Bollinger, and Taylor Jarrell - but Nichols had nothing but praise for them, both on and off the court.

“All six of them are great kids, some of the best that we’ve had in a while,” Nichols commented. “Any teacher that you talk to talks about how respectful they all are. Most of them are three sport athletes, and every one of them are two sport athletes, so they’ve represented the Bearcats well, not only on the athletic field, but in the classroom and the community. If you have the opportunity to coach good [kids like these], that’s about all you can ask for. I’m proud to have had the opportunity to work with them.”


 Photos above Top Photo: Tyler Miller goes up against Cody Heisserer during Thursday night’s District Tournament loss to Notre Dame.
Bottom photo: Alan Flannigan ducks under Notre Dame’s Jacob Tolbert for two. Flannigan led the Bearcats in scoring, with 15 points and an impressive 16 rebounds in the contest.

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	FINAL
DEXTER	8	11	8	11	38
NOTRE DAME	14	5	8	18	45

DEXTER: Flannigan-15. Cox-7. Miller-7. Bollinger-4. Fitts-3. Lee-2.

NOTRE DAME: Tolbert-15. Meystedt-13. Beussink-8. Heisserer-4. Lynch-4. Reddin-1.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports

Semi-Final action for the Boys in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament was on tap Thursday (Feb. 24) at the Bearcat Event Center. No. 2 Dexter looked for the home-floor victory against No. 3 Notre Dame in the 6:00 p.m. contest, and No. 5 Fredericktown looked to pull off another upset against No. 1 Sikeston in the late game.

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Dexter

The Bulldogs came out fast and furious, jumping to a quick 10-2 lead thanks to a three from Alex Beussink and six points from Nathan Meystedt. The Bearcats were able to battle back within six points by the end of the first quarter, 14-8.

Tyler Miller connected from beyond the arc to spark a big offensive second quarter for Dexter. The ‘Cats defense also showed up in the second, holding Notre Dame to just five points in the frame. The two teams went into halftime tied at 19.

Jonathan Lynch was good from three-point land for the Bulldogs during the third quarter. Miller was a perfect two-for-two from the free-throw line for the ‘Cats in the frame, helping Dexter keep the score tied at 27 at the end of the third.

Jacob Tolbert came on in a big way for Notre Dame in the fourth. The 6’7” senior had 11 points in the frame and hitting five-of-seven free-throws. Jake Cox and Jordan Fitts both hit threes for the ‘Cats in the frame, but Notre Dame’s late offensive surge proved too much for the Bearcats. Notre Dame pulled off the upset with a 45-38 final score.



With the victory, Notre Dame advanced to the District Championship game, where they will face the winner of the Sikeston-Fredericktown game. Tipoff is set for 7:30 Friday (Feb. 25).

No. 5 Fredericktown vs. No. 1 Sikeston

Caleb Killian was good from beyond the arc three times for the Blackcats during the first quarter. Darryl Howard dropped in eight points for Sikeston during the frame, helping the Bulldogs to a 20-13 advantage after the first quarter.

Sikeston eliminated any hope of an upset during the second quarter - Kil’ron Coleman, Caleb McGee, and William Holifield all hit threes for the Bulldogs in the frame. Sikeston put up 25 in the frame - more points than Fredericktown had in the first half - and held a commanding 45-22 lead going into halftime.

Vashawn Ruffin dropped in nine of Sikeston’s 29 points in the third quarter, with teammate Janeil Hatchett contributing eight points. Fredericktown was held to just four points in the frame, with Sikeston’s lead reaching blowout proportions by the end of the quarter, 74-26.

Killian hit another three for the Blackcats during the fourth, but Sikeston’s offense was again unstoppable, putting up 18 points in the frame. Sikeston easily rolled through Fredericktown, winning with a 92-33 final.



With the big win over Fredericktown, Sikeston advanced to the District Championship game. Sikeston will face off against Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 25) night at the Bearcat Event Center.