Dexter falls in final seconds to Neelyville 59-57

NEELYVILLE - The Dexter Bearcats went toe-to-toe with the state-ranked Neelyville Tigers Thursday night but were unable to generate a clutch score in the closing seconds of a tie game.

Neelyville got a defensive stop with 10 seconds remaining and made a transition layup six seconds later to secure a 59-57 home victory against Dexter.

"We gambled a little bit," Neelyville coach Becky Hale said of her team preventing Dexter from scoring late. "It's not usually like us to set back in a zone, but we kind of did that. We moved good in it and tried to make them throw it away or take a shot they didn't want to take. I was proud of them for that. They worked hard."

Dexter led 57-54 before a 3-pointer by Shelby Moon tied things up at 57-57 with 2:02 remaining.

The varsity girls basketball game remained tied at 57-57 as the Bearcats brought the ball across the timeline with one minute remaining.

Dexter milked the clock to about 15 seconds before passing the ball to Melanie McKuin at the top of the key. McKuin penetrated to about the free throw line and released a 2-pointer with 10 seconds left that made contact with the rim but did not fall.

"We drew up a play there at the end and we just didn't get set up in it very well," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "I should have called a timeout, but I didn't. I went ahead and let them play through it and we didn't get the look we wanted. But these kind of games are what we need to make us better. We've just got to learn from these situations and hopefully come playoff time we will be able to execute."

Neelyville rebounded Dexter's miss and moved the ball to a sprinting Moon at the other end of the floor who made a contested shot near the rim with four seconds left to set the final score.

"She was going hard taking the ball down the floor," Hale said of the game-winner. "You could just see it in her face she was bound and determined. She's got the green light to do stuff like that."

Dexter faced the daunting task of moving the ball the length of the floor with 2.2 seconds remaining after falling behind 59-57. After taking its final two timeouts Dexter threw a high pass from the baseline to just past half court. The contested pass was touched by players on both teams and Dexter was unable to get a shot off before time expired.

Neither team led by double digits in the closely contested affair between traditional perennial powers.

Neelyville scored the first seven points of the game to take its largest lead less than two minutes into the first period.

"We came out fired up," Hale said. "I think we kind of letdown on our rebounding when we got shots to fall for us. We were just thinking we were going to make it and then they were able to get back in it with rebounding. It was a nail-biter after that."

Dexter hit five of its eight 3-pointers in the second period.

The Bearcats led 39-36 before Moon hit a 3-pointer from near halfcourt at the buzzer to tie things up at 39-39 entering halftime.

"I thought we shot the ball really well the second quarter and guarded better in the second half," Allen said. "The three they made at the buzzer was huge, and gave them a lot of confidence going into the lockeroom.

"It was a game of runs," Allen added. "We got down 7-0, made a run and then they made another run. We were just going back and forth, and that's just two good teams playing each other."

Neelyville led 54-49 at the end of the third quarter but did not score in the first six minutes of the fourth period.

"We just tried to contain Shelby Moon from the 3-point line," Allen said of defending Neelyville late. "She didn't get as many looks the second half. I thought we covered her up pretty good. But it was just a tough one to lose tonight."

Moon hit all six of her team's treys on her way to a game-high 26 points.

Dakota Reynolds drained a team-high three treys. Reynolds paced Dexter with 15 points.

Krysten Garrison tallied 14 more and McKuin scored 13 points.

Dexter (8-5) returns to action Monday when it visits state-ranked Park Hills Central.

Dexter 12 27 10 8 - 57

Neelyville 16 23 15 5 - 59

DEXTER (57) - Dakota Reynolds 15, Melanie McKuin 13, Cheyenne Mosby 2, Hannah Thurman 8, Katie Reiker 2, Krysten Garrison 14, Harley Allen 3. FG 22, FT 5/9, F 16. (3-pointers: Reynolds 3, McKuin 2, Thurmon 2, Allen 1. Fouled out; none)

NEELYVILLE (59) - Shelby Moon 26, Maggie Eaker 8, Chelsea Petty 8, Ashley Law 3, Christina Russom 6, Riley Washburn 6, Jaz Smith 2. FG 18, FT 17/22, F 10. (3-pointers: Moon 6. Fouled out: none)