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Bearcats pull off upset over Woodland in overtime, advance to SCAA finals
BLOOMFIELD -- Just when it looked like Dexter was ready to let a shot at the Stoddard County Activities Association championship slip through their fingers, a last second rally boosted the Bearcats to one of their biggest wins of the season.
A clutch 3-pointer from Dexter junior Ethan Flowers in the final minute forced overtime where lights-out free throw shooting propelled the third-seeded Bearcats to a 72-65 win over second-seeded Woodland in the conference tournament semifinals.
Momentum was decidedly in the Cardinals favor in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter as Woodland, having erased an 11-point deficit they faced with six minutes to play.
Starting with a Michael McCormick three, the Cardinals reeled off 10-straight points in just over two minutes to close within a point, 51-50, with 3:55 to play.
"They had switched and started trying to create some traps on the top," Dexter head coach Josh Dowdy said of Woodland's comeback. "They have a lot of length the top with a 6-5 and a 6-4 kid. They did an excellent job. We just got tied up in the corners and just didn't do a very good job adjusting out of that."
A Garrett Reynolds jumper had the Cardinals out on top 58-55 with 49 seconds remaining. Woodland immediately called a timeout to prepare for the Bearcats' answer, but it was all for naught when Flowers got the ball near his own bench.
Flowers sent up a game-tying three with 29 seconds to play that sent Bearcat fans to their feet as Dowdy called a timeout of his own to regroup.
"That was awesome," Dowdy said of Flowers' shot. "He came off a little double, staggered screen and hit that right in front of our bench. That was a big play."
Woodland started to set up a potential game-winning shot before losing control near the key and sending both teams scrambling for the loose ball. The Cardinals recovered with just seconds to play and sent a high pass to Reynolds away from the scrum.
Reynolds got off an off-balanced jumper at the buzzer that rimmed out to send the teams to overtime.
"That was a battle there," Dowdy said. "The ball was bouncing all over the place. When it ended up in Reynolds' hands you just start thinking 'oh my goodness'."
In overtime Dexter didn't hit a single field goal, yet kept the Cardinals fighting from behind thanks to their work at the foul line.
Taking the lead just 20 seconds in on a pair of Austin Chesser free throws, the Bearcats went on to hit 11-straight foul shots before finishing overtime 14 of 16 (88 percent) at the line.
A 3-pointer from Cole Schliff with 21 seconds remaining kept the Cardinals within two possessions, 69-65, but a turnover soon after allowed Dexter to pull away for the win.
"We've been an outstanding free throw team all year long," Dowdy said. "We're shooting around 70 percent and I think we eclipsed that mark tonight. It was definitely the difference in the game."
It was just under three weeks ago that the Cardinals went into the Bearcat Event Center and handed Dexter a 74-54 loss thanks in part to Garrett Reynolds' 31-point night.
In the past three weeks the Bearcats have been playing like a different team, however, winning five of their last six games after a 2-9 start to the season.
This time around the Bearcats held Reynolds to 20 points as he fought through foul trouble much of the night and picked up his fifth in the closing seconds of overtime.
Dexter did some of its best work with their leading scorer on the bench as Flowers picked up his fourth foul with 2:32 left in the third quarter and a four-point lead.
A Reynolds three soon had the Cardinals just a point back, 38-37, before the Bearcats reeled off nine-straight points as part of a 13-3 run.
Jason Jarrell had back-to-back baskets to spark the streak and Jacob Pedigo followed suit with two-straight buckets, including a three.
A basket by Chesser following a Cardinals turnover gave Dexter its biggest lead of the night, 51-40, with six minutes left in regulation.
Leading the Bearcats with a game-high 26 points was Jarrell, who had 10 points in the third quarter alone. He finished with 17 points after halftime and hit 5 of 6 shots from the charity stripe in overtime.
"Jason took over and threw a few circus shots up," Dowdy said. "My goodness, Jason is a kid who comes in early at seven in the morning and works with coach (Kyle) Williamson. You love to see that kind of kid perform in those big games. He put in the time and deserves that."
Flowers was second on the squad with 14 points, including three of his team's four 3-pointers. Pedigo and Chesser had 12 points each.
Reynolds' 20 points for Woodland tied him with Zach Beel for a team-high and McCormick pitched in 15 points. The Cardinals hit eight 3-pointers in the game with Reynolds and McCormick providing three apiece.
With the win Dexter (7-10) will face off with two-time defending champion Bernie, who once again came into the tournament with the top-seed. It was two weeks ago that Dexter went on the road and handed the Mules a 66-54 loss.
The title game will start at 8:30 p.m. at Bloomfield High School.
"We need to get to bed," Dowdy said of preparing for Bernie. "It's going to be a battle. I told the kids we can enjoy this for about 30 minutes on that bus ride home, but then we have to go to bed, wake up and grind one out tomorrow night."
| Dexter | 13 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 14 | -- | 72 |
| Woodland | 13 | 11 | 13 | 21 | 7 | -- | 65 |
DEXTER (72) -- Noah Kronk 2, Jason Jarrell 26, Peyton Pollock 6, Jacob Pedigo 12, Austin Chesser 12, Ethan Flowers 14. FG 22, FT 24-31, F 14. (3-pointers: Pedigo 1, Flowers 3. Fouled out: none.)
WOODLAND (65) -- Garrett Reynolds 20, Cole Schlief 7, Zach Beel 20, Devon Gramlisch 3, Michael McCormick 15. FG 26, FT 5-8, F 24. (3-pointers: Reynolds 3, Schliff 1, Beel 1, McCormick 3. Fouled out: Reynolds, Beel.)