Dexter defends Bloomfield well in 47-37 W

Dexter High School players Devin Turnbo (24) and Tucker Temples (3) defend a drive by Bloomfield senior guard Caleb Upchurch on Tuesday at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.

Dee Loflin ~ Show Me Times

DEXTER – The story of the Bloomfield High School varsity boy’s basketball season this winter has been a familiar refrain of limited offensive production. That continued on Tuesday, as the Wildcats were limited to single digits in the first three periods of their 47-37 loss to Dexter in the Bearcat Event Center.

“We always tell the kids that we will put them in the best possible place to be successful,” second-year Bloomfield coach Ben Sindle said. “We go off the idea on this team that everybody has a role. If your role is to slash to the basket, shoot baskets, and attack, that is your role.”

Bloomfield (7-5) has tried to get more of its athletes to adopt that attacking mentality this season, but it has been a challenge.

The Wildcats are averaging 44 points per game this season, which is eight fewer points than a season ago. Against the Bearcats, Bloomfield was held to eight, five, and nine points, through each of the initial three periods, as Dexter (7-7) built a 38-22 margin entering the final period.

“Coming into this game,” veteran Dexter coach Chad Allen said following the win, “you knew that it was going to be a battle because Coach Sindle does a great job with them. They are really disciplined offensively, and they hung with us for a while until we sort of wore them down.”

The Bearcats played a man-to-man defense primarily, which was a bit of an adjustment from their usual strategy, Allen said.

“We wanted to just play man (defense) today,” Allen said. “I thought our guys did a great job.”

Bloomfield 'grinding' its way to success despite offensive woes

Tom Davis

Given its struggles offensively this basketball season, the fact that the Bloomfield varsity boys squad has battled its way to seven victories with 10 regular season games, as well as the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament and postseason, remaining, is fairly impressive.

Allen had Dexter junior forward Devin Turnbo man up on Bloomfield senior guard Caleb Upchurch, and Turnbo limited Upchurch to just seven points in the second and third periods.

“Upchurch had a great game,” Allen said. “He’s hard to stop. He’s a great player. Devin did a great job through the whole game.”

Upchurch finished with a game-high 23 points, but 10 came in the final period when Dexter had built a sizable margin.

The Wildcats got six points from Law Graser while junior Colton Grigery added four points.

Dexter was led by junior guard John Sepulvado, who tallied 15 points.

Bearcat sophomore point guard Will Guethle added 11 points while sophomore center Elijah Ibrahim chipped in eight points.

Dexter will visit Bernie (8-3) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Bloomfield will visit the Mules on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Homecoming is ‘pretty surreal’

Tuesday’s game was the first trip for Sindle to return to his alma mater, where he was a standout player.

“It was pretty surreal,” Sindle said of coaching in the Bearcat Event Center.

Sindle graduated from Dexter High School in 2018 and left the Bearcat program as its all-time leader in three-pointers made.

“I got to play (in the Bearcat Event Center) all four years,” Sindle explained. “It was pretty cool getting to see some familiar faces in the crowd. They were people who supported me and the teams that I was on.”

“That was pretty neat.”