No. 6 Dexter nearly pulls off upset against No. 3 Kennett

sports@standard-democrat.com

BLOOMFIELD -- After watching seventh-seeded Bloomfield stun second-seeded Malden, the Dexter Bearcats looked ready to pull off a second-straight upset Saturday night at the Bloomfield Christmad Tournament.

Unfortunately for the sixth-seeded Bearcats, a few late rebounds proved to be the difference in game where third-seeded Kennett held on for a 42-41 quarterfinal win.

"The kids weren't short on heart tonight," Dexter head coach Josh Dowdy said. "They battled most ever possession, but we were short on execution.

"When you don't execute your offense and don't rebound in crucial moments you're going to end up on the short end of the stick. That's what happened tonight."

The Bearcats held a brief 1-point advantage early in the fourth quarter, but with two minutes remaining the Indians used an 8-2 run to go up 39-33.

Kennett's lead still stood at five points with a minute to play when Dexter sophomore Jason Jarrell put together a couple big plays to keep his team in the game.

Jarrell stole a pass and went in for a layup to cut his team's deficit to three, 39-36, at the one minute mark. A put-back had the Indians back out by two-possessions before a conventional 3-pointer from Jacob Pedigo put the Bearcats within a basket, at 41-39, with 27 seconds to play.

Kennet spent their next possession trying to kill the clock and force Dexter to send them to the line. Instead, Jarrell picked off another pass on the defensive end before driving down the court for another layup to tie the game, 41-41, with 15 seconds to play.

"That was a crucial steal," Dowdy said of Jarrell's play. "A little run and jump there that created an opportunity for us. That's a pretty big move for a sophomore."

A timeout by the Indians was followed by a trip down the floor where they put up a contested shot that drew a foul on the Bearcats. Dexter looked to have caught a break when both free throws missed their mark.

While fighting for the rebound, however, the Bearcats watched Landon Vaughan come down with it while getting fouled in the process. Vaughan hit the first of two free throws to put his team on top 42-41 with 5.6 seconds remaining.

Out of timeouts and with all Indian defenders playing back, Dexter grabbed the rebound off Vaughan's second missed free throw and marched down the floor for a game-winning shot.

They set up shop in the left corner where Addison Moore watched a potential game-winning 3-pointer sail wide at the buzzer.

"(Moore) can shoot the three a little bit," Dowdy said of the last play. "I figured they would cover up (Austin) Chesser and it was kind of a decoy there. It worked, he just missed the shot.

"We had like three gifts there they gave us in missing a few free throws and we get down there and get a wide open look. We just didn't cash it in."

Leading Dexter's effort was Jarrell with a game-high 20 points. Pedigo was second on the team with 12 points.

For Kennett, Andre Oliver finished with a team-high 13 points.

Dexter will play Malden in the fifth-place bracket semifinals Monday at 5:30 p.m. while the Indians will play Bloomfield in the championship semifinals Monday at 8:30 p.m.

Dexter 9 9 9 14 -- 41

Kennett 11 7 11 13 -- 42

DEXTER (41) -- Noah Kronk 4, Jason Jarrell 20, Peyton Pollock 1, Jacob Pedigo 12, Austin Chesser 4. FG 14, FT 12-18, F 18. (3-pointers: Pedigo 1. Fouled out: Pollock)

KENNETT (42) -- Rantrell Caruthers 7, Carlos Turner 5, Landon Vaughan 3, Fred Gooden 6, Andre Oliver 13, Jackson Britt 2, Jad Kenny 6. FG 17, FT 7-19, F 19. (3-pointers: Turner 1. Fouled out: none)

__Bloomfield 54, Malden 47__

Easily the tournament's biggest upset, seventh-seeded Bloomfield took down second-seeded Malden 54-47 in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats led by two points at the half and outscored the Green Wave 17-10 in the third quarter to go up 46-37 heading into the fourth.

Malden won the final quarter 10-8, but couldn't make up the difference.

Noah Vandiver had a game-high 27 points for Bloomfield, including 19 points after the half. He leads all scorers with a tournament high 54 points after two games.

Bloomfield 13 16 17 8 -- 54

Malden 12 15 10 10 -- 47

BLOOMFIELD (54) -- Cameron Pulley 3, Peyton Bell 3, Nathan Newell 3, Tyler Battles 14, Noah Vandiver 27, Alex Gibbs 4. FG 20, FT 11-21, F 16. (3-pointers: Hector 1, Bell 1, Battles 1. Fouled out: none)

MALDEN (47) -- Alejandro Gordon 8, Shaeen Perkins 5, Cortez Dobbins 18, Shamaudre Barber 2, Orlandis Farr 3, Trevor Ison 11. FG 16, FT 9-11, F 23. (3-pointers: Gordon 2, Perkins 1, Dobbins 1, Farr 1, Ison 1. Fouled out: Dobbins, Barber)

__Bernie 51, Twin Rivers 36__

Bernie booked their trip to the semifinals with a 51-36 win over Twin Rivers.

The Mules trailed by two points at the half, but outscored the Royals 12-6 in the third quarter to take the lead. By out-pacing Twin Rivers 20-13 in the fourth quarter Bernie held on for the win.

Caleb Ellenburg led the way with a game-high 21 points for the Mules, followed by Brandon Sparks with 13 points.

Twin Rivers 12 5 6 13 -- 36

Bernie 12 7 12 20 -- 51

TWIN RIVERS (36) -- Jase Worley 4, Chance Wilkerson 5, Andrew Mittelstadt 6, Josh Suiter 9, Seth Snider 12. FG 17, FT 1-2, F 17. (3-pointers: Wilkerson 1. Fouled out: none)

BERNIE (51) -- Matt Vernon 7, Brandon Sparks 13, Caleb Ellenburg 21, Gavin Smith 10. FG 16, FT 18-22, F 5. (3-pointers: Ellenburg 1. Fouled out: none)

__Hayti 64, South Pemiscot 51__

BLOOMFIELD -- With a strong second half surge the top-seeded Hayti Indians defeated South Pemiscot 64-51.

After heading into halftime tied 31-31 the Indians outscored South Pemiscot 33-20 in the final two quarters for a spot in the semifinals.

Indaqual Presberry and Brendon Presberry led Hayti with 15 points each while Devan Riddick and Brandon Burden added 14 points each to the Indians' cause.

South Pemiscot 9 22 9 11 -- 51

Hayti 19 12 16 17 -- 64

SOUTH PEMISCOT (51) -- Contrell Johnson 21, Glen Jackson 11, Steve Wilbourn 4, William Macintyre 10, Jabari Herron 5. FG 20, FT 6-13, F 12. (3-pointers: Johnson 3, Macintyre 2. Fouled out: none)

HAYTI (64) -- Kedron Rollings 5, Ted Hall 1, Devan Riddick 14, Indaqual Presberry 15, Brandon Burden 14, Brendon Presberry 15. FG 26, FT 7-11, F 14. (3-pointers: Rollings 1, Riddick 1, Indaqual Presberry 3. Fouled out: none)

__Consolation Quarterfinals__

__East Prairie 70, Holcomb 41__

BLOOMFIELD -- Led by Brandon Evans' 18 points, East Prairie downed Holcomb 70-41 to stay alive in the consolation bracket.

The Eagles broke out to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and led by 20 points, 42-22, at the half. They broke the game open by outscoring the Hornets 20-2 in the third quarter to easily coast to the consolation semifinals.

Behind Evans, Seth Bays scored 13 points for East Prairie and Deverance Jones contributed 10 points.

The Eagles will play Saxony Lutheran Monday at 1 p.m.

East Prairie 19 23 20 8 -- 70

Holcomb 10 12 2 17 -- 41

EAST PRAIRIE (70) -- Seth Bays 13, Dustin Bryars 2, Dylan Lingle 4, Brett Ellis 6, Micheal Graham 2, Cade Douglas 9, Deverance Jones 10, Luke Marcum 2, Nick Grubbs 4, Brandon Evans 18. FG 30, FT 7-16, F 14. (3-pointers: Bays 3. Fouled out: none)

HOLCOMB (41) -- Alec McDaniel 2, Skyler Johnson 8, Pearson McClendon 4, Preston Sikes 5, Paden McCormick 2, Jacob Adkins 6, Colton Dunbar 9, Ben Vance 5. FG 12, FT 15-20, F 16. (3-pointers: Johnson 2. Fouled out: none)

__Doniphan 66, Portageville 47__

BLOOMFIELD -- The Portageville Bulldogs fell 66-47 to Doniphan.

The Dons outscored the Bulldogs in each of the first three quarters to build a 48-25 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Lucas Moe led Doniphan with 20 points and Luke Darst had a team-high nine points for Portageville.

Doniphan 20 16 12 18 -- 66

Portageville 12 8 5 22 -- 47

DONIPHAN (66) -- Tanner Buck 3, Bryce Hale 8, Klay Barton 15, Brad Eldens 6, Austin Leroux 8, Jalen Andrews 1, Mason Aden 5, Lucas Moe 20. FG 27, FT 6-13, F 16. (3-pointers: Barton 3, Eddens 1, Buck 1, Moe 1. Fouled out: Moe)

PORTAGEVILLE (47) -- Kynan Mosby 5, Will Crysler 2, Jaylin Mosby 3, Chris Garmon 2, Derrick Priggel 8, Greg Hopkins 5, Ian Torrey 7, Luke Darst 9, Ryan Priggel 6. FG 20, FT 3-12, F 18. (3-pointers: Darst 3, Mosby 1. Fouled out: none)

__Saxony Lutheran 79, Richland 65__

BLOOMFIELD -- The Richland Rebels fell 79-65 to Saxony Lutheran to end their tournament run.

After trailing by just a point, 44-43, entering the fourth quarter the Rebels was out-paced 35-22 in the final eight minutes.

Preston Tilley led Richland with 19 points, followed by Marcus Grayson with 16 points.

Richland 9 13 21 22 -- 65

Saxony Lutheran 8 14 22 35 -- 79

RICHLAND (65) -- Skyler Harper 4, Marcus Grayson 16, Devin Stoker 5, Brandon Partenberry 1, Preston Tilley 19, Josh Thornton 9, Josh Shidler 2. FG 19, FT 17-27, F 22. (3-pointers: Grayson 3, Stoker 1, Tilley 6. Fouled out: none)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (79) -- Nathan Schneider 4, Noah Franke 4, Austin Bock 1, Karsten Short 2, Ryan Palmer 5, Graesen Meystedt 21, Jacob Wunderlich 2, Elwood Voss 16, Paris Johnson 12, Corie Williams 12. FG 30, FT 14-24, F 22. (3-pointers: Meystedt 3, Johnson 1. Fouled out: none)

__Puxico 79, Van Buren 54__

BLOOMFIELD -- Puxico defeated Van Buren 79-54 behind Zack Tucker's 28 points.

Tucker had 20 points in the first half alone to help his build a 41-35 halftime lead they never gave up.

Seth Luttrell was second on the Indians with 17 points.

Puxico 19 22 22 16 -- 79

Van Buren 20 15 8 11 -- 54

PUXICO (79) -- Levi Woods 14, Trevor Hicks 2, Cory Pratt 2, Chris Siler 8, Dalton King 6, Seth Luttrull 17, Jordan Burch 2, Zack Tucker 28. FG 28, FT 19-26, F 17. (3-pointers: Woods 3, Luttrull 1. Fouled out: none)

VAN BUREN (54) -- Tristan Hollis 4, Logan Sanders 4, Todd Wilcoxon 10, Caleb Davis 6, Zach Griffin 26, Tyler Dowdy 4. FG 18, FT 12-17, F 19. (3-pointers: Hollis 1, Davis 1, Griffin 4. Fouled out: none)