Ellinghouse's 3/4-court shot highlights Dexter's fast start in 82-38 rout of Woodland

Dexter’s Andrew Ellinghouse (4) drives to the basket against Woodland’s Rafe Johnson during the first quarter Monday night at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.

DEXTER STATESMAN/Kyle Smith

DEXTER — Dexter senior Andrew Ellinghouse provided the exclamation point to a dominating first quarter against the Woodland Cardinals.

Ellinghouse made a 3/4-court shot at the first-quarter buzzer in the Bearcats’ 82-38 SCAA victory Monday night at the Bearcat Event Center.

The Bearcats blitzed the Cardinals with an 18-2 first-quarter run en route to their 10th straight victory, their longest win streak since winning 11 straight during the 2017-18 season.

Dexter coach Chad Allen said his team was taking shots from the Bearcat on the opposite end of the floor during a drill Monday morning.

“We have this drill called 30 and a half where you’ve got to make 10 layups, 10 free throws, 10 3s, and then a half-court shot,” Ellinghouse said.

Ellinghouse thought the shot had a chance when it left his hands.

“I think I got the ball with about three seconds, and I looked up and I was like oh, oh goodness, took a dribble, squared it up and threw it up and it went in,” Ellinghouse said.

Woodland (9-6, 1-2 SCAA) appeared to have a formula to succeed against the Bearcats early. Rafe Johnson, who paced Woodland with 12 points, went to work inside, scoring a pair of baskets on putbacks to tie the score at 2 and 4. Johnson cut the deficit to 6-5 with a free throw with 4:59 to play.

However, Driskill’s steal and layup ignited a 6-0 run that included a 3-point play by Ellinghouse, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the opening quarter.

Lane Vangennip interrupted the run with a mid-range jumper, but the Bearcats followed with a 12-0 run for a commanding 24-7 lead.

“I really thought we came out extremely active right out of the gate, and put a lot of pressure on them,” Allen said, “and we just scored a lot off turnovers.”

The Bearcats’ pressure defense resulted in 12 Woodland turnovers in the first, and they scored 11 points off those turnovers utilizing their fast break.

“Coach told us before the game … they're a lot better than they were last year, and he said from the get-go we’ve got to get on them, and at halftime he said y’all got on him from the get-go. We’ve got to do the same thing in the second half. I believe we did,” Ellinghouse said.

Last season, the Bearcats beat Woodland 107-26 in the first round of the SCAA tournament and 74-38 in their regular-season matchup.

Dexter (11-2, 4-0) went 11-of-17 (65%) from the field in the opening quarter, including making four of six 3-point tries.

Besides Ellinghouse’s quarter-ending shot, Jackson Allen, Carter Dorton and Dylan Sitze sank 3s.

Dorton finished with a game-high 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and Sitze scored 10.

Woodland took better care of the basketball in the second quarter, but the Bearcats continued to attack on offense, producing points after turnovers, defensive rebounds and made shots and on second-chance opportunities.

Dexter continued to get easy opportunities through its fast break and sank 7-of-11 shots (64%) from inside the arc.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals shot only 21% (3-for-14) from the field in the second quarter after making a solid 50% (5-for-10) in the opening period.

The Bearcats padded their lead by 11 points in the third, outscoring Woodland 23-12 behind a 10-of-15 performance from the free-throw line.

Dexter took a 76-30 lead into the fourth where the clock ran continuously because of the 30-point mercy rule.

WOODLAND — Rafe Johnson 12, Dominic Meek 7, Trenton Braswell 6, Devon Moyers 4, Lane Vangennip 4, Cecil Abernathy 3, Tyson Moyers 2, Joe Cook 0, Jaiden Deck 0, Jarid Frymire 0, Preston Hulvey 0. FG 16, FT 4-15, F 16. (3-pointers: Abernathy, Meek).

DEXTER — Carter Dorton 16, Andrew Ellinghouse 15, Jackson Allen 12, Dylan Sitze 10, Ryder Boles 9, Cole Nichols 9, Peyton Driskill 8, Riley Slusher 2, Logan Josupait 1, Truman Krapf 0, Maddox Miller 0. FG 29, FT 16-25, F 16. (3-pointers: Dorton 3, Allen 2, Boles, Ellinghouse, Sitze).