SEMO Conference: Dexter nips Kennett in shootout of stars

Kennett High School sophomore guard Alyce Edwards drives against Dexter High School senior guard Kate Nichols in the opening round of the SEMO Conference Girl's Basketball Tournament on Monday at Notre Dame High School.

Tom Davis ~ TDavis@semoball.com

The opening game of the regular season for any basketball coach is a bit of a crapshoot (no pun intended). Every coach knows what he/she has stressed in the early practices, but will those lessons be executed?

You can hope.

For veteran Dexter High School girls basketball coach Eric Sitze, he not only had to roll out a lineup that had just one returning starter from last season, but his “number two option” offensively is out for a couple of weeks with a severe sprained ankle, AND he was relying heavily on a guard who hadn’t played in a competitive game since February of 2022.

In the end, Sitze’s team rallied from a slow start to knock off Kennett 58-55 in the opening round of the SEMO Conference Tournament on Monday at Notre Dame High School.

“Playing without ‘Mo’ tonight,” Sitze said of losing sophomore forward Mauriana Menley to an ankle injury, “I was just wanting to compete and we did that.”

Dexter, which is the No. 6 seed in the tournament, struggled early to contain the reigning SEMO Conference Player of the Year, Indian sophomore Alyce Edwards.

Kennett (0-1), which is the No. 3 seed, took a quick 13-5 lead, as Edwards sliced her way through the Bearcat zone defense for nine points, forcing Sitze to call a timeout.

The break worked because the Bearcats (1-0) responded with an 11-2 run to take a 16-15 early in the second quarter.

“We just kept hanging in the game,” Sitze said.

Dexter survived the onslaught of offense that Edwards was producing.

Edwards tallied 23 points in the first half, but Dexter still led 33-32 at halftime.

“She elevates so well,” Sitze said of Edwards. “She ‘Euro-steps’ and jump stops so well, she creates so much space for herself.”

While Edwards was hot in the first half, Dexter senior guard Kate Nichols began to heat up in the second half.

Nichols scored 18 of her team-best 32 points following halftime, while the Bearcat defense limited Edwards to 11 points in the second half, as she finished with a game-high 34 points.

Dexter still led 56-55 following a basket by Edwards in the final minute, but Nichols missed a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining.

With 13 seconds on the clock, Edwards got a great look on a lay-in, but the ball rolled off the rim and Dexter sophomore Brooklyn Goodman grabbed the miss and got the ball to Nichols.

With 10 seconds remaining, Nichols did NOT miss her next two free throws to secure the victory.

“We executed well down the stretch,” Sitze said. “We hit some free throws when we needed to and we hit a lot of big threes tonight.”

Those “big threes” came from senior guard Kenady Krapf, who hadn’t played basketball since she was a freshman. She finished with 12 points while sophomore Chloe Warren had seven, Goodman five, and senior post Febe Worley scored a bucket.

Kennett got 11 points from senior Anekia Farmer, four from Brooklyn Edwards, and two points apiece from Isabella Wilson, Lilliana Wilson, and Alaina Edwards.

Dexter moves on to play No. 2 seed Notre Dame, which beat No. 7 seed Cape Central 71-42 on Monday. That game will be on Thursday at 8 p.m.