December 8, 2016
Dexter continued SEMO Conference saga, ends tournament run with 58-47 loss to Notre Dame
SIKESTON, Mo. -- It's been a tale of two teams for Dexter so far this season and their saga continued Wednesday during the SEMO Conference Tournament. Monday was the tragedy, while Tuesday ended with triumph. And although Wednesday fell somewhere in the middle, it landed the Bearcats out of tournament play...
By Chris Pobst ~ Standard Democrat
SIKESTON, Mo. -- It's been a tale of two teams for Dexter so far this season and their saga continued Wednesday during the SEMO Conference Tournament.
Monday was the tragedy, while Tuesday ended with triumph. And although Wednesday fell somewhere in the middle, it landed the Bearcats out of tournament play.
Eighth-seeded Dexter couldn't overcome a second half filled with offensive struggles and timely turnovers while No. 6 Notre Dame did just enough to get by with a 58-47 win.
Dexter is out of the tournament after starting the week with a lopsided play-in loss to No. 9 New Madrid County Central on Monday. They bounced back in a big way on Tuesday to dismantle No. 7 Kennett 63-41 for their third tournament win ever and first since 2007.
The Bearcats never led after the first quarter, but Notre Dame (2-2) needed a second quarter surge to shake loose from the up-and-down Dexter squad.
"It probably wasn't as bad as Monday but we showed some energy in some spots," Dexter coach Josh Dowdy said. "We've learned some things from Monday. We just have a long way to go for exactly where we want to be."
The Bearcats (1-4) had three players in double figures starting with Jason Jarrell's 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting. Clay Mullins added 12 points on 5 of 13 shooting and Gabe Jackson scored 10 and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Senior Blake Bauwens shrugged off a slow start to the year with a season-high 18 points for Notre Dame, who will take on NMCC on Friday at 5:30 p.m., during the consolation finals.
Dexter had three less turnovers than Notre Dame, 18-15, but Dowdy thought the timing of those blunders is what hurt the most.
"Really, the story was we just didn't take care of the ball and weren't real composed in a lot of situations and it cost us," he said.
The Bulldogs (2-2) shot 24 for 46 from the floor compared to Dexter's 19 for 44. The Bearcats were more efficient in the first half going 11 for 20. They slid to 8 for 24 in the second half, including a 2 for 11 spell in the third quarter.
"We wanted to establish ourselves the first three minutes and just never could get in a flow," Dowdy said. "Had some trouble handling the ball...They were a much better team tonight. They looked like they were a step or two quicker than us for whatever reason."
It might not have been a pretty win according to Notre Dame head coach Paul Unterreiner, but the Bulldogs are playing on the tournament's final day nonetheless.
"Was it pretty? Not much at all and I don't know if it will be for us all year," Unterreiner said. "We've kind of talked and we're going to try and win games ugly if we have to. I thought we did just enough to get ahead and get a win."
Carter Dame scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter for Notre Dame, who lost its first round matchup to No. 3 Jackson on Monday 60-49.
Unterreiner was pleased to see his team bounce back after falling to the Indians for the third time in the last five tries in this tournament.
"A lot of times you get to this consolation bracket and its hard to get your guys fired up and ready to play," Unterreiner said. "I thought our guys came out and treated this game with respect, our opponents with respect and played their tails off."
The first quarter was saw five ties and three lead changes until a basket from Dawson Dohogne, who finished with eight points and five rebounds, two blocks and two steals, with 20 seconds left gave Notre Dame a 16-14 edge.
Notre Dame never trailed again from that point.
Bauwens popped off three of his four 3-pointers during the last 1:34 of the second quarter, including one at the buzzer, to help Notre Dame to a 36-28 lead at the half.
Bauwens finished 4 for 8 from long distance and 6 of 11 total from the field.
"I thought he was pretty patient," Unterreiner said about Bauwens. "They came at him with a box-and-1 and he started to get a little frustrated in the beginning. Then he realized we can score without him. Whenever he had his opportunities he took advantage of them."
Dexter fell behind by as many as 13 points with 6:03 left to play, but six consecutive points from Jackson narrowed that gap to seven just a minute and a half later.
Notre Dame recovered with a 7-0 run, that included four points from Dame, to push their lead to 14 and secure the win.
"We did a pretty good job of attacking their defenses they threw at us," Unterreiner said. "We had some silly turnovers, especially towards the end. We're a young team and we're going to have those for a while, but we'll see if we can limit those."
Dexter will take on Jackson Dec. 13 and Richland on Dec. 15 before taking part in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament at Bloomfield High School on Dec. 26. The seed meeting for that tournament will be Sunday.
"It's early in the season and I like where we're at moving into the Christmas tournament," Dowdy said. "We have a week and a half here to buckle down and clean some things up going into that tournament."
Dexter 14 14 5 14 -- 47
Notre Dame 16 20 6 16 -- 58
DEXTER (47) -- Jason Jarrell 13, Alan Pippins 3, Ben Sindle 6, Clay Mullins 12, Ryan Mayo 3, Gabe Jackson 10. FG 19 FT 5-8 F 13. (3-pointers: Pippins 1, Sindle 2, Mayo 1. Fouled out: none.)
NOTRE DAME (58) -- Tyler Landewee 7, Blake Bauwens 18, Carter Dame 12, Winston Welter 9, Justice Thoma 2, Braden Noel 2, Dawson Dohogne 8. FG 24 FT 3-5 F 13. (3-pointers: Bauwens 4, Welter 2. Fouled out: none.)
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