C4D1: Strong practices paying off for Dexter girls; Bearcats advance to championship game

DEXTER — Dexter coach Eric Sitze believes his team is rounding into shape.

The second-seeded Bearcats started fast and finished strong in their 52-30 victory over third-seeded Saxony Lutheran in the semifinal round of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 Girls Basketball Tournament on Monday night the Bearcat Event Center.

“We’ve really been practicing well the last two or three weeks, and I feel like it started showing up more tonight, playing confident,” Sitze said. “We’re doing it in practice, and now that we’ve done it in a game, hopefully, that feeds over to Thursday night.”

The Bearcats (13-11) will meet Doniphan (23-3) in the championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday at the BEC. Top-seeded Doniphan beat fourth-seeded Perryville 70-15 in Monday’s other semifinal.

Perryville closed the season with a 17-8 record, and Saxony finished 9-16.

Magi McBride scored Dexter’s first 14 points, helping boost the Bearcats into a lead they never relinquished. She finished with 18 points, making both go-ahead baskets for Dexter. 

“Magi really came out confident,” Sitze said. “She started the game well and she finished the game well, not necessarily (with her) scoring but she did a good job of getting her head up and getting (the ball to) open people. I thought Magi had a really good game for us tonight.”

Three-point plays by McKenna Webb and Anna Thompson gave the Crusaders a 6-2 lead, but the first of three 3-pointers by McBride cut the lead to one, and her second-chance basket delivered Dexter a 7-6 lead.

Emma Voelker scored from along the baseline to quickly restore the Crusaders’ lead (8-7), but McBride made another 3, giving the Bearcats a 10-8 advantage, a lead they never relinquished.

Saxony stayed close before the Bearcats closed the quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 19-10 lead into the second. Abbie Lloyd became the team’s first player other than McBride to score points when McBride came up with a steal and passed inside to Lloyd.

Kate Nichols closed the quarter with the first of her three 3-pointers and sank another to open the second, extending the Bearcats’ lead to 22-10.

Nichols finished with a game-high 19 points after leading the Bearcats with 12 in their loss to state-ranked Farmington on Friday night.

The teams played nearly even in the second quarter with Dexter padding its lead by one point and taking a 30-20 halftime lead.

Abagayle Britton scored all five of her points in the second, as the Crusaders kept pace. Webb paced them with six points.

Dulcie Pullen scored a pair of baskets to open the third quarter to push the lead to 34-20, but the Crusaders improved their rebounding, while Dexter shot only 33% (3-for-9) from the field in the third.

Dexter carried a 38-27 lead into the final quarter where Nichols helped finish the Crusaders off. She scored eight points, as the Bearcats utilized the fast break and a good passing game to pull away.

Six of Dexter’s points came on the fast break, and four baskets followed an assist — two by McBride and one apiece by Maddie Glaus and Pullen.

Dexter held the Crusaders to 11-of-39 shooting (28%) shooting overall.

“I thought we played hard. I thought our effort was good,” Sitze said. “We had a couple of really small spurts during the game where we turned it over a little bit. Overall, I felt like our energy was good tonight. We hung in there. We stuck to our game plan. We took the shot when they gave it to us and we knocked it down. I thought the girls did well tonight. It was a good game for us.”

Saxony Lutheran 10 10 7 3 — 30

Dexter 19 11 8 14 — 52

SAXONY LUTHERAN — McKenna Webb 6, Abagayle Britton 5, Clara Brune 5, Emma Voelker 4, Anna Mueller 3, Anna Thompson 3, Maci Hollis 2, Rebecca Johnson 2. FG 11 FT 7-16 F 13. (3-pointers: Webb. Fouled out: none.)

DEXTER — Kate Nichols 19, Magi McBride 18, Dulcie Pullen 9, Caitlin Giles 2, Abbie Lloyd 2, Allison Turnbo 2. FG 20 FT 4-7 F 14. (3-pointers: Nichols 3, McBride 3. Fouled out: none.)