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Dexter girls basketball rolls into Class 4 quarterfinals
FARMINGTON, Mo. -- The Dexter Bearcats nearly matched their season-low for points allowed in a game Tuesday night in a MSHSAA Class 4 sectional playoff.
The Bearcats crushed North County 61-23 to advance to the state quarterfinals for the third-straight season and the sixth time in seven years.
The Bearcats (23-5) will face Miller Career Academy at 1 p.m. Saturday at Jefferson College at Hillsboro. The Phoenix beat Gateway 63-61 Tuesday night.
If the Bearcats beat the Phoenix they would advance to the Show-Me Showdown for the second-straight year and for the fifth time in the past 10 years. The Bearcats finished third last season.
"I'm really excited," Dexter junior Natalie Sitze said. "Going again would be awesome."
Dexter coach Chad Allen said, "It feels great tonight, but it's definitely going to get tougher this Saturday. Whoever wins that game up there, we'll take a look at their game film and get prepared, Hopefully, we'll come just as confident and as good defensively as we did tonight."
Dexter permitted fewer points in a game only three times this season, allowing 21 against East Carter and 22 against Jackson and Kennett.
"Our defense was really good," Sitze said. "When we play defense good, our offense takes care of itself. I think that won us the game."
Allen said, "Our defense was really good tonight. We were active. We put a lot of pressure on them and created a lot of turnovers."
North County, which finished the season 18-12, scored only two points in the first quarter and four in the second.
The Raiders had plenty of opportunities to score, particularly early.
"They seemed like they were getting a lot of offensive boards at the beginning of the game," Allen said. "That's one of the things we talked about at halftime, trying to limit those offensive boards, and I thought we did a much better job in the second half of doing that."
Sitze, who finished with 12 points, nailed a 3-pointer, and Hannah Thurmon made two free throws to give the Bearcats a 5-0 lead 1:37 into the game.
Michaela Mason's putback cut the Bearcats' lead to 5-2 and signaled the beginning of a 16-0 quarter-closing run.
"There for that first minute-and-a-half, two minutes, it was a slow-paced game," Allen said, "then all of a sudden we broke it open."
Maycie Martin opened the run with a layup on a fast break. Thurmon scored on an inbounds play. Sitze capped a fast break with a basket. Chaylea Mosby made the first of her two 3-pointers and followed that with a steal and a layup. Sitze made another 3-pointer, and Thurmon scored from inside to give the Bearcats a 21-2 lead after one quarter.
Kayleigh Winch scored 20 seconds into the second quarter to stop Dexter's run. The 6-footer sandwiched her second putback of the quarter between 10-0 and 6-0 Dexter runs.
"I thought we did a good job on their big girls," Allen said. "(Winch), she's a load inside. I thought for the most part, we limited her tonight, limited her touches."
Winch finished with six points and shared team-high scoring honors with Tiffani Thomas.
Mosby converted a full-court pass from Thurmon to open the 10-0 run and she made three free throws. Sitze made the third of her three 3-pointers and sank a free throw before Keirstan Keirsey capped the run with a free throw for a 31-4 lead.
Thurman made a floater in the lane to start the 6-0 run. Mosby scored the middle three points and Martin made a free throw to set the halftime score at 37-6.
The Raiders scored seven points in the third quarter, including their first two baskets from the perimeter. Julia Christopher made a midrange jumper and a 3-pointer.
The Bearcats opened the quarter with an 8-2 run sparked by 3-pointers by Mosby and Thurmon.
Mosby finished with a game-high 22 points, and Thurmon had 14.
Dexter finished the quarter with a 9-5 run to take a 55-15 lead into the fourth quarter where the clock ran continuously because of the 30-point mercy rule.
The Bearcats' junior varsity players saw significant playing time down the stretch.
| Dexter | 21 | 16 | 18 | 6 | -- | 61 |
| North County | 2 | 4 | 9 | 8 | -- | 23 |
DEXTER (23-5) -- Martin 1 1-2 3. Allen 1 1-1 3. Sitze 4(3) 1-2 12. Thurmon 5(1) 3-4 14. Mosby 8(2) 4-5 22. Ke. Keirsey 0 1-2 1. McBride 0. Asberry 1 0-0 2. Ka. Keirsey 0. Werneck 1(1) 0-0 3. Chamberlain 0. Dodson 0 1-2 1. Baker 0. Totals 20(7) 12-18 61.
NORTH COUNTY (18-12) -- Christopher 2(1) 0-0 5. Huber 0. Mason 1 0-0 2. Winch 3 0-2 6. Gant 1 2-2 4. Proffer 0. Halton 0. Veach 0. Peterson 2(2) 0-0 6. Thomas 0. Labruyere 0. Johnston 0. Wruck 0. Totals 9(3) 2-4 23.