Strong start lifts Dexter in SCAA semifinals

sports@standard-democrat.com

BLOOMFIELD -- Their three-game winning streak may have come to a close last Friday, but the Dexter Bearcats rebounded in a big way Monday in the opening round of the Stoddard County Activity Association Tournament.

Led By junior Ethan Flowers' 24 points, the third-seeded Bearcats road a dominant start against sixth-seeded Puxico to a 57-34 win and a trip to the semifinals.

"We came out and played some man-to-man," Dexter head coach Josh Dowdy said of his team's strong start. "We had a major emphasis on Seth Luttrull and Zach Tucker. I'm so proud of (Noah) Kronk and how he handled Lutrell all night long. He's a tough matchup for us.

"We're under-sized across the board. Jason Jarrell had a matchup on Tucker. I just thought it was the key to the game shutting down their power horses."

As Dowdy alluded too, the Bearcats contained the Indians' big men all night long as Lutrell and Tucker finished with four and eight points respectively.

That focus led to an all-around offensive void for Puxico in the first half as they were held to just three field goals entering the break. Taking advantage of this, Dexter got seven points from Jason Jarrell in the first quarter alone to take a 13-2 lead entering the second quarter.

Another couple buckets from Jarrell and seven points from Flowers allowed the Bearcats to outscore the Indians 13-5 in the second quarter to go into the locker room leading 26-7.

A 3-pointer from Flowers to start the third gave Dexter its largest lead up to that point, 29-8, before Puxico managed a small rally to keep the game from turning into a rout.

While holding Dexter scoreless for over four minutes, the Indians rattled off nine-straight points, capped by a Levi Woods bucket in the paint to cut their deficit down to 13 points with 3:14 left in the quarter.

"That was probably my fault," Dowdy said of the Indians' run. "I just didn't want to take any quick shots to give them some momentum. I probably slammed on the brakes a little too early. At the same time I wanted to value the ball. I thought we could make them come get us and I thought they'd have a difficult time matching up on us man-to-man.

"We didn't do a very good job and that's my fault. I kind of took our momentum away there to be honest."

Luckily for Dexter, their offense started clicking once again in the final three minutes of the quarter and they entered the fourth on a 7-0 run. Four-straight points to start the final quarter gave Dexter its biggest advantage of the night at 24 points, 40-16, and Puxico never got any closer 16 points the rest of the way.

Flowers' game-high 24 points included four of his team's five 3-pointers on the night. Jarrell was second on the team with 14 points, including 11 points before halftime.

Jacob Pedigo added nine points to the Bearcats' cause.

With the win, Dexter moves on to play tonight's winner of second-seeded Woodland and seventh-seeded Bell City. That semifinal contest will take place Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at Bloomfield High School.

"We'll take advantage of (our two day rest)," Dowdy said. "We'll come up here (Tuesday) night and watch Woodland play Bell City. That should be a battle. Woodland had their way with us in (our first meeting) and it's just night to have another shot at them, should that take place. But I wouldn't count Bell City out. They're a fine team."

Dexter 13 13 10 21 -- 57

Puxico 2 5 9 18 -- 34

DEXTER (57) -- Jason Jarrell 14, Peyton Pollock 2, Jacob Pedigo 9, Ethan Flowers 24, Addison Moore 2, Matt Sims 2. FG 20, FT 8-14, F 14. (3-pointers: Jarrell 1, Flowers 4. Fouled out: none.)

PUXICO (34) -- Levi Woods 9, Corey Pratt 4, Chris Siler 7, Jack McCoy 1, Seth Luttrull 4, Jordan Burch 1, Zach Tucker 8. FG 14, FT 4-14, F 21. (3-pointers: Woods 1, Pratt 1. Fouled out: Pratt, McCoy.)

__Bernie 77, Richland 51__

BLOOMFIELD -- The top-seeded Bernie Mules defeated eighth-seeded Richland 77-51.

Bernie held only a seven-point lead at halftime, 32-25, but outscored the Rebels 25-13 in the third quarter to pull away.

Brandon Sparks led the way with 26 points for the Mules and teammates Caleb Ellenberg was close behind with 25 points. Sparks hit four of Bernie's five 3-pointers and as team the Mules went 14 of 15 at the free throw line.

Matt Vernon pitched in 16 points for the Mules.

Richland was paced by Marcus Grayson's 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Preston Tilley contributed 11 points, hitting three 3-pointers to give the Rebels seven total on the game. Skyler Harper was the third Richland player in double figures with 10 points.

Bernie will play the winner of fourth-seeded Advance and fifth-seeded Bloomfield Thursday night in the semifinals at 7 p.m. at Bloomfield High School.

Bernie 17 15 25 20 -- 77

Richland 10 15 13 13 -- 51

BERNIE (77) -- Matt Vernon 16, Brandon Sparks 26, Caleb Ellenberg 25, Devin Trammell 2, Gavin Smith 8. FG 29, FT 14-15, F 7. (3-pointers: Sparks 4, Ellenberg 1. Fouled out: none.)

RICHLAND (51) -- Skyler Harper 10, Marcus Grayson 25, Preston Tilley 11, Josh Thorton 5. FG 20, FT 4-4, F 11. (3-pointers: Grayson 4, Tilley 3. Fouled out: none.)