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Dexter overcomes nine-point deficit to get past Lady Mules
KENNETT — Two teams separated by 30 miles and a stretch of Highway 60 were thrown into their first contest of the girls basketball season Friday night.
The Poplar Bluff Lady Mules and Dexter Bearcats met in the 2022 SEMO Conference Tournament consolation final and it, fittingly, came down to barely any distance between them.
A 16-6 run over the last 12 minutes and a clutch free throw in the waning seconds was enough to bring Dexter to the finish line first in a 42-41 nailbiter against the Lady Mules (1-3).
Paving the way for Dexter (2-1) were senior Caitlin Giles and sophomore Kate Nichols as each scored 15 points apiece.
“Our matchup got a little bit better and we stayed with our assignments better,” Dexter head coach Eric Sitze said. “Our rotation was slow at times. I don’t if they got a little bit tired at the end and we got better — or smarter — but we started to do a better job and playing our defense the right way.
“If your defense gets better, shots become harder and I think that’s what was happening. We were sticking to our assignments better and making them rush their shots or we had a hand in the face. Throughout the game they had too many open looks.”
Poplar Bluff (1-3) was led by senior Madison Eads with 15 points and junior Kennedy Zgaynor with 13s.
“We just got winded and that’s what I told them,” Poplar Bluff head coach John David Pattillo said. “We were sucking wind at the end. We have to fight through things at the end of the game and we let their pressure affect us. What we were shooting free and easy in the second and third quarters, we quit doing that. Our shooters have to keep shooting and not worry about it.”
The Lady Bearcats scored on a post turnaround by Giles 80 seconds into the fourth quarter to pull Dexter to within 37-36 and then a minute later, her teammate Nichols recorded a basket and the Lady Bearcats led 38-37.
Dexter bumped its lead up to 41-37 over the next two minutes and used a determined defense to not allow Poplar Bluff any easy looks.
Up a basket at around the three-minute mark, Dexter moved to a stall before calling timeout at 1:29.
Dexter burned the next 22 seconds before the Lady Mules made a steal and headed in the opposite direction.
Two missed 3-pointers by Poplar Bluff were rebounded by teammates and the second ended up in a successful put back by Zgaynor and the game was tied at 41 with 27.8 seconds left.
Dexter got the ball and worked the clock down — and with no shot available called timeout with 7.8 seconds to go.
An inbounds play got the ball in the hands of Nichols who made one free throw at the 5.4 mark and a 42-41 Dexter lead.
The Lady Mules were unable to get a good shot off having to go the full 90 feet and Dexter prevailed.
Nichols admitted to missing her first of two free throws, before hitting the winner, because of nerves.
“I just knew I had to make it so we can win the game,” Nichols said, noting she had never hit a game-winner before. “It’s whatever. I feel we matched up better on defense and decided we wanted to win.
“Sometimes we don’t shoot the best shots and sometimes we rush it a little much. I feel pretty good and this is a good start to this season. We need to work on our defense and working off each other better.”
Pattillo said the Lady Mules need to attack the middle of the floor more and they couldn’t find the offense’s choice spots.
“All in all, we guarded and rebounded really well,” he said. “We just have to learn how to finish games. We will get over the hump. We haven’t shot it great yet, but did for 2-3 quarters to be, and that’s the kind of team we can be. We just need to keep working on it.”
The offenses had the early advantage as Dexter scored on their first three possessions and the Lady Mules went 3-for-4 in chances and the teams were tied at six-apiece in the game’s first three minutes.
Lady Mules sophomore Zgaynor splashed home a 3 just north of the three-minute mark to give her squad its first lead at 9-7.
Klaire Essner hit a triple of her own to pull Dexter within 13-12 two minutes later and the Lady Bearcats led 14-13 after the first eight minutes on a bucket by Giles.
Dexter led 18-13 early in the second quarter, but back-to-back 3-bombs by Zgaynor and Clara Rahlmann pushed Poplar Bluff back up 19-18 with over five minutes left before heading to the locker room.
A combination of improved defense and some tentative offensive play led to a slowdown in scoring and ultimately Poplar Bluff escaped the half up 23-20.
The third quarter started like the first both teams got sizzling again, but treys by Zgaynor and Eads lifted the Lady Mules to their biggest lead of 33-26 three minutes into the second half.
The lead got up to nine, but an 8-2 run boosted Dexter to within 37-34 as the fourth quarter began.
Sitze said the defenses played well, but the game ultimately came down to two struggling offenses trying to scratch out a win.
“I thought their defense was good too and it was a defensive game, but I don’t know if that’s because our offenses are struggling right now and (Pattillo) would probably say the same thing,” Sitze said.