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Bearcats finish fourth in Class 4
COLUMBIA - The Ozark Tigers used a combination of size, strength and quickness to defeat Dexter 78-56 in the third place game at the MSHSAA Class 4 Show-Me Showdown in Columbia.
Ozark, the defending state champions, controlled every phase of the game from the outset, jumping out to a 10-0 lead before the Bearcats could even blink.
The Tigers (27-5) shot a blistering 61 percent from the field while Dexter continued its woeful shooting in the Hearnes Center for the second straight game, making just 29 percent of their shots.
"We would've liked to have shot the ball better obviously," said Dexter head coach Eric Sitze. "I thought a lot of our shots were open too, we just weren't hitting shots. Ozark's a big physical team and they knew what our weaknesses were. They exposed them today."
The Tigers, which featured a mountain of a man in 6-foot-9, 250-pound senior Sam Singh, continually pounded the ball inside. Fifty of the team's 78 points were in the paint.
Singh ended up with 18 points and nine rebounds, but his presence opened up things for 6-3, 200-pound junior Jake Schermer, who had a game-high 29 points with nine rebounds.
"(Schermer) was a warrior inside," said Ozark head coach Steve Hunter. "They took away some of Sam inside and he's a tough assignment on the opposite block. He's fed off of big Sam all year long as a result of the double teams. They played behind him and Jake's a difficult matchup when they play behind. He's so strong, you can tell he's a load down there on the block."
Singh is headed to Bradley University next season.
(Singh is) the best postman I've ever had," said Hunter. "Basically he's responsible for the reason why we're here -- no bones about it."
With Singh and Schermer dominating the inside, the Tigers also had an outside presence, making four 3-pointers in the first quarter.
"We felt that was the most important thing was to get out of the blocks well," said Hunter. "Lucas Harrell hit some big 3s right off the bat."
Harrell, a 6-2 senior, had 12 points and four steals.
Dexter, meanwhile, never could get on track offensively. They were just 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
"We couldn't throw it in the ocean," said Sitze. "If we were standing in it, we couldn't throw it in there. Derek had shot the ball well out there all year. We haven't shot the ball well all the way through these state playoffs."
Ozark led 25-13 after one quarter and extended the lead to 44-28 by halftime. The Tigers maintained a 16-point advantage throughout the third quarter as they led 58-42.
Bearcat senior Derek Demaree, who battled flu-like symptoms all week, finished with a team-high 17 points, but was just 5-of-16 from the field. Demaree's skills did catch the eye of Hunter.
"That kid's a nice player," said Hunter. "Demaree was able to step away from the basket and make shots and also he got Sam backed down deep and he was pretty tough to handle down there. We tried to double down a little bit and make some of those other kids make outside shots. Sam was able to give him something he probably doesn't see a lot over the course of the season."
Chris Guethle followed up with 15 points.
Second-leading scorer Josh Miller only had four points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Sitze said the biggest difference was the size and strength of Ozark's players.
"Probably out of the seven years that I've been at Dexter and the three years of coaching varsity, this is probably the weakest group of kids that I've had," said Sitze. "We knew we were going to get pushed and shoved around. That goes back to our schedule. These guys, Ozark and Vashon, they see a lot tougher schedule than we do and I think that showed this week."
The Bearcats finish the season 23-8. But the lasting memory for Dexter will be the school's first district championship in 28 years and the school's first ever appearance in the final four.
The Bearcats will graduate just four seniors in Demaree, Miller, James Ford and Justin Devers.
"They've got big hearts and I would've never even imagined them getting this far," said Sitze. "Our kids have never experienced this before. This is all new to us and we just hope to get back here and get another shot at it and hopefully learn from our experiences."
As expected, nationally ranked Vashon capped its undefeated season with a hard-fought 68-55 victory against Kearney. But it wasn't was easy as everyone thought.
Kearney, which has won two consecutive state championships in football, out-muscled the Wolverines in the first half en route to a 10-5 first quarter lead and a 25-18 halftime edge.
Vashon (31-0) made its run in the third quarter as they out-scored the Bulldogs 28-9 to take a 46-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Mr. Basketball candidate Dwayne Polk, who is headed to SLU, finished with 38 points on 15-of-23 shooting, including five 3-pointers. He also had five steals and four rebounds. Six-foot-10 Curtis Muse followed up with 11.