SHS girls fall short

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs basketball team lost a thriller at the Sikeston Field House to the Dexter Lady Bearcats, 56-55 on Thursday night.

Both teams played with passion and determination to the very end of the contest. Sometimes the difference between winner and losing is a fine line. In the game against Dexter, the Lady Bulldogs needed a jump shot that was two feet further back.

Sikeston got some bad news even before the game tipped off. Senior forward Allison Blurton was not available to play because of the flu. Blurton got sick on Tuesday morning and was sent home from school on Wednesday.

Dexter was not going to feel sorry for Sikeston, as they had two players out with injuries. Amanda Dooley, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, and Haylee Finch, a 5-8 junior, were out with injuries suffered in the off-season.

The Lady Bearcats seized upon the short-handed Sikeston team and went to a 2-2-1 press to start the contest. The Lady Bulldogs committed 10 turnovers in the first quarter as Dexter sprinted out to the lead thanks to an 8-0 run midway through the quarter.

Dexter led 14-9 after the first quarter as the Lady Bearcats were paced by 5

-10 senior forward Taylor Nelson, who netted eight points in the quarter. Sikeston was led by junior Latoya Gipson and sophomore Martika Davis, who both had four points in the first quarter.

Sikeston got it going in the second quarter as Nelson and 5-11 center Bailey Stanley, got in foul trouble for Dexter. Both were on the bench at the midway point of the second quarter with three personal fouls.

The Lady Bulldogs outscored Dexter 21-15 in the quarter and took a one point lead 30-29, heading into halftime. Gipson hit two 3-pointers and Paige Silverthorn nailed a three, to boost the Lady Bulldogs late in the second quarter.

Dexter came out of the locker room and still pressed the Lady Bulldogs early in the third quarter. The pressure and lack of bench, seemed to catch up with Sikeston as they committed several costly turnovers in the quarter. The Lady Bulldogs had six turnovers in the quarter that led to several easy buckets for Dexter.

"We are still not in shape," said Sikeston head coach Fred Johnson. "We were short a man tonight and another player injured her ankle late in the game. We were working short-handed but that is no excuse. We need to handle the basketball better and quit making silly mistakes."

Heading into the fourth quarter, Dexter led 43-41 and seemed the fresher of the two squads. Sikeston switched to a 2-3 zone at the start of the quarter as they tried to find a way to stop Nelson and to possibly conserve energy.

Sikeston seemed to gain some momentum after Stanley fouled out with 5:38 left in the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs were down 51-48 with 3:34 left in the quarter, when Gipson drove the baseline for an apparent score, but a Dexter defender established position and drew a charge.

Nelson had an excellent game for Dexter as she scored most of her points down in the paint. However, with 2:04 left in the fourth quarter, Nelson stepped out and drained a big three-pointer to increase the Dexter lead to four, 54-50.

At 1:30 left in the game, Sikeston guard Amber Minner found Gipson alone for a three-pointer, which Gipson drained cutting the Dexter lead to 54-53.

After a minute elapsed, Sikeston had to foul and put Nelson on the free-

throw line for a huge one-and-one. Nelson calmly nailed the first shot for Dexter and then did the same with the second with 12.9 seconds remaining.

The Lady Bulldogs advanced the ball down the floor and Gipson had the basketball on the right wing with two seconds left. Dexter defenders were right with Gipson, who pumped faked and dribbled twice to her left and went up for the shot. The shot was good with .02 seconds left on the clock.

Unfortunately for Sikeston, when Gipson dribbled, she dribbled inside the three-point line, just two feet inside the line. The shot was good for only two points and Dexter came away with the 56-55 victory.

"This was a big victory for us tonight," said Dexter head coach Gavin Miller. "With all of our injuries and we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores contribute. Bailey Stanley has never played basketball before and she played well tonight and she will only get better. I am proud of my girls because they worked so hard for the win and I am nothing but pleased with our effort."

The Lady Bearcats were led in scoring and rebounding by Nelson who scored 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Natalie Hayes dished out seven assists to lead Dexter, while senior Mallory Kennedy had an all-around good game scoring five points, five rebounds and four assists. Freshman Katelyn Heil played well off the bench as she scored six points, two rebounds, a steal and an assist.

"Mallory played well tonight," said Miller. "Sometimes she has a tendency to play sporadic, but tonight she blocked out well and got some key rebounds for us. Our freshmen came in and played well down in the post for us and scored some big baskets for us."

Gipson had a huge night for Sikeston as she led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding with 33 points and eight rebounds. Martika Davis scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds.

Minner, Silverthorn and junior Jessica McCray, led Sikeston in assists with three apiece. Freshman Keyarra Blissett had a good game scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds with two steals.

"I am pleased with the play of our team," said Johnson. "We are playing a lot better than where we were at this time last week. Latoya had a good game and we recognized the hot shooter. We got her more touches and she was putting them down. You have to keep feeding the hot player and we did."

Miller was happy to get out of Sikeston with the victory.

"Sikeston is going to be a team to be reckoned with this year," said Miller. "Sikeston has got some athletes and I am glad we got the victory."

Dexter (1-0) will play their first home game of the year against the Senath-

Hornersville Lady Lions on Monday at 6 p.m.

Sikeston (0-2) will participate in the Chaffee Lady Devils Invitational Tournament and will have a first round game against Chaffee on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.