C4D1: Dexter converts at free-throw line to hold off Doniphan, earn spot in district championship game

DEXTER — Four days after breaking the school record for most 3-pointers in a season, Dexter junior Truman Krapf may have sank his biggest 3 of the season.

Krapf made a 3-pointer with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter, and the second-seeded Bearcats held the lead the rest of the way en route to a 44-41 victory over third-seeded Doniphan in the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 Boys Basketball Tournament.

The Bearcats (16-11) will face top-seeded New Madrid County Central (17-7) in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bearcat Event Center. NMCC beat fourth-seeded Notre Dame 54-35 in the other semifinal.

While the last of Krapf’s four 3-pointers — bringing his season total to 90 — put the Bearcats ahead to stay, classmate Cole Nichols did the rest. He scored seven of his game-high 24 points in the fourth, including a 5-for-7 performance from the foul stripe.

“That was a big 3 by Truman,” Dexter coach Chad Allen said, “and at the end of the game, Cole took over. I thought he did a good job closing out the game.”

Max Owen, who paced Doniphan with 20 points, made a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Dons close in the final quarter. His first 3 tied the score at 37 prior to Krapf’s go-ahead basket, and his second sliced the lead to 43-41 with 21.9 seconds left.

Doniphan began trapping the Bearcats full court late in the fourth and appeared to gain a key turnover in front of the Doniphan bench with 15.5 seconds remaining. However, Allen called his final timeout to maintain possession.

“I thought (we) were close to a 5-second call,” Doniphan coach Daniel Cagle said. “I don’t know how early he was calling for the timeout. They may have gave him one late.”

Dealing with traps was a popular subject during the Bearcats’ timeouts late in the game.

“We talked to them about it over and over,” Allen said. “I thought the guys did a great job getting spacing. That’s what you’ve got to do against the trap.”

The Bearcats ran the clock down to 8.4 seconds before Doniphan fouled Nichols.

Nichols made the first of two free throws for a 3-point lead but missed the second, giving the Dons an opportunity to tie the score and force overtime.

JD Burton attempted a long, well-covered 3-pointer that missed by inches right before the buzzer. Doniphan grabbed the rebound but ran out of time before a shot could be attempted.

“My kids fought til the end for sure,” Cagle said. “I thought what hurt us more than anything was Dexter had two or three and-ones in the second half that really hurt us. The second half, I thought they got to the free-throw line quite often. … They got enough points at the line in the second half to beat us.”

Doniphan imposed its will on the pace of the game.

“We played the way we wanted to play,” Cagle said. “We wanted to slow it down and take good shots. We didn’t want to force anything. We were patient on offense.”

The Dons took away Dexter’s ability to drive inside, particularly in the first half.

“Doniphan plays the pack-line defense where they’re sagging with their man-to-man. It’s hard to get to the rim,” Allen said. “You’ve got to be patient. I thought our guys did a pretty good job being patient all game long and took great shots.”

The Dons led for most of the first half, opening the game with a 3-pointer by Ethan Jones, who finished with 10 points, but Nichols made two free throws to tie the score at 5 and drove inside for a basket and a 7-5 lead.

Kam Barton drove the baseline to tie the score at 7 and finished inside on a pass from Nolan Czerwonka for a 9-7 lead. Owen added a 3-pointer and two free throws to extend the lead to 14-7 with 2:10 to play. 

Brayden Pullum’s putback ended the 9-0 run, but the Dons took a 17-11 lead into the second quarter.

Jones’ jumper gave Doniphan its largest lead of the game at the start of the second, but Dylan Sitze and Krapf followed with 3-pointers to cut the lead to 19-17.

The Bearcats sliced the lead to 22-21 on back-to-back jumpers by Nichols. Owen and Nichols exchanged baskets, and the Dons took a 24-23 lead into halftime.

“The first half, I thought Doniphan came out inspired and played extremely hard,” Allen said. “I thought they were the aggressor. They outrebounded us the first half and they caught the ball in the high post a lot against us. We adjusted the second half. I thought our guys did a much better job defensively and we were finally flying in there trying to get some offensive rebounds. I think we definitely beat them on the boards in the second half.”

Nichols scored on a pass inside from Sitze to give the Bearcats a 25-24 lead early in the third quarter, and they never trailed again.

Doniphan tied the score at 25 before the Bearcats scored six straight to take a game-high six-point lead. Jones’ 3 and Barton’s 3-point play tied the score at 31. 

Pullum scored on a 3-point play set up by an assist by Nichols with 11.3 seconds left, and Tristian Bryant made a free throw with 4.2 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 34-32 going into the fourth quarter.

The Dons tied the score at 34 and 37 in the fourth before Dexter closed out the game.

Doniphan finished the season 16-11 and will lose three seniors: Bryant, Czerwonka and Jones.

“Nolan, Tristian and Ethan have been starting since their sophomore years and play about every second of every game,” Cagle said. “They’re winners. They’re tough kids and they’ve won a lot of basketball games in the last three years. I’m going to miss them. They’re going to be hard to replace.”

Doniphan 17 7 8 9 — 41

Dexter 11 12 11 10 — 44

DONIPHAN — Max Owen 20, Ethan Jones 10, Kam Barton 7, Tristian Bryant 4. FG 14 FT 7-10 F 11. (3-pointers: Owen 3, Jones 2, Bryant. Fouled out: Owen.)

DEXTER — Cole Nichols 24, Truman Krapf 12, Brayden Pullum 5, Dylan Sitze 3. FG 15 FT 9-12 F 13. (3-pointers: Krapf 4, Sitze. Fouled out: none.)