South Iron survives cold shooting night, beats Dexter 54-36

DEXTER — State-ranked South Iron stayed the course despite an off shooting night.

The Panthers, the third-ranked team in the MSHSAA Class 1 state coaches poll, shot only 33% (6 of 18) from the perimeter but received a strong effort defensively to beat the Dexter Bearcats 54-36 Tuesday at the Bearcat Event Center.

“We take a lot of pride (in our defense),” South Iron coach Lawrence Graves said. “We tell our girls defense is where it’s at in those games where we don’t shoot the ball very well. If we have a really good defensive performance, we’ve still got a shot to win. Tonight was one of those nights. I didn’t feel like we shot the ball very well. We can make a lot of the shots that we missed, but we did good enough offensively and our defensive effort sure gave us a chance.”

Dexter's Magi McBride (15) eyes the basket, as South Iron's Drew Gayle (14) and Allecia Cornell (3) defend during the first quarter Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter. (DEXTER STATESMAN/Kyle Smith)

South Iron entered the final quarter with a 10-point lead and a 23% (3 for 13) shooting average from behind the arc before connecting on three 3s in the fourth.

Anna Parker sank 3-pointers to give the Panthers leads of 42-29 and 45-31. Drew Gayle made her team’s third 3 to extend the lead to 50-35.

“We’ve been encouraging them to take those shots,” Graves said. “We haven’t been shooting the ball very well the last three or four games. It’s hard for kids to do the right thing when they’ve not seen the results they want to see. We’re really pleased that they continued to stay the course and do what we’ve been asking them to do. … It was nice to get some momentum there at the end (to end the game on a positive note).”

Dexter's Abbie Lloyd (left) passes over South Iron's Enzley Dinkins during the first quarter Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter. (DEXTER STATESMAN/Kyle Smith)

South Iron never trailed, scoring the game’s first eight points including five by Enzley Dinkins and a 3-pointer Allecia Cornell.

The Bearcats answered with a 10-2 run to tie the score at 10. Kate Nichols’ 3 opened the rally and Caitlin Giles made back-to-back baskets to tie the score. Giles finished with 10 points.

Gayle answered with a 3-pointer, and Madison Ayers turned a pair of steals into layups to extend the lead back to seven.

Dulcie Pullen, who paced Dexter with 15 points, scored inside with 1:32 left, and the Bearcats trailed 17-12 entering the second quarter.

“I never felt like we had a lot of energy tonight,” Dexter coach Eric Sitze said. “I felt like we were flat tonight. At times, we didn’t compete hard. The times that we did, I thought we did some good things.”

Ayers scored seven of her team-high 15 points in the second quarter, and the Panthers pushed the lead to 28-18 at halftime on her late 3-pointer.

Dexter sliced the lead to seven points on three occasions in the third — all on baskets by Pullen — but a steal and a layup by Ayers and a free throw by Dinkins gave South Iron a 37-27 lead entering the final quarter.

The Panthers hope to return to the final four for a third-straight year after finishing third in 2020 and fourth in 2021 despite having a roster featuring only eight players.

“These girls have been playing a lot of basketball together since they were in grade school,” Graves said. “They’re skilled. They’re athletic. They’re competitive. They want to be good.”

Dinkins and Gayle joined Ayers in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

“I wish we would have put out a little better effort on the competitive side of it,” Sitze said. “We gave them too much respect at times and played kind of soft at times. We didn’t run the floor well. Good teams will show you what your weaknesses are. That’s why we want to play these kinds of teams. Hopefully, the next time we’re in this type of situation, we’ll step up and do a little better.”

Dexter (11-6) is scheduled to face Naylor at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Naylor, and South Iron (16-1) is set to host East Carter at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, weather permitting.

South Iron 17 11 9 17 — 54

Dexter 12 6 9 9 — 36

SOUTH IRON — Madison Ayers 15, Enzley Dinkins 12, Drew Gayle 10, Anna Parker 8, Allecia Cornell 5, Megan Lashley 4. FG 21 FT 6-7, F 8. (3-pointers: Gayle 2, Parker 2, Ayers, Cornell. Fouled out: none.)

DEXTER — Dulcie Pullen 15, Caitlin Giles 10, Magi McBride 4, Kate Nichols 4, Allison Turnbo 2, Avery Neely 1. FG 15 FT 5-10 F 8. (3-pointers: Nichols. Fouled out: none.)