Dexter earns SCAA win over Bloomfield

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter's Jon Bowman turns up court after coming up with a steal during the Bearcats' 54-41 win over Bloomfield on the road Tuesday hight.

BLOOMFIELD -- Both teams showed the effects of a long layoff, but it was Dexter that regained its touch first in a, 54-41, SCAA win over Bloomfield on the road Tuesday night.

"It was a long layoff for both teams," Dexter coach Rob Nichols said, referring to the Christmas break and recent inclement weather that kept both teams from seeing game action for 11 days. "Early on both teams struggled to make shots. I think part it may have been good defense, but part of it was a long layoff for both teams."

Both teams showed the effects of the extended break, combining for just 11 first quarter points. A 9-3 Dexter run to finish the second quarter erased Bloomfield's 7-4 first quarter lead and pushed the Bearcats out front, 21-15, at the half.

Bloomfield regrouped at the half and scored the first five points of the third quarter to cut the Dexter lead to one, but Brandon Stoker knocked down the first of four 3-pointers the 'Cats would drain in the third to maintain their 6-point half-time advantage, 38-32, heading into the final eight minutes of play.

"Brandon did a good job knocking down some open looks when he got them," Nichols pointed out. "They (Bloomfield) did a good job on him the first half. They really did a good job on Alan (Flannigan) all night limiting his touches. That was big that Brandon hit some of those 3's in the third quarter."

Flannigan, Dexter's leading scorer heading into the game, had been held in check by a double-down defense coach Dustin Hicks employed from the opening tip. The 6'5" junior found some space in the fourth and scored Dexter's first seven points, the last two giving the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 45-35.

Dexter was able to answer Bloomfield down the stretch and a steal and driving basket by Jon Bowman made it a 53-41 game with 1:40 to play. A Stoker free throw with 40 seconds showing on the clock set the final score as the Wildcats missed and let Dexter hold the ball as the final seconds ticked off.

"He (Bowman) did a great job playing position defense, using his reach to get some deflections and some steals," Nichols said of his senior. "He had a lot of good defensive plays there in the fourth quarter when it was at a sticking point and the game could have gone either way." Bowman finished with three steals and two blocks.

While Dexter had three players score in double figures the Bearcats' defense was able to hold Bloomfield's prolific scorer, Leighton Hensley, to just seven points. Hensley did manage to go over the 1000 point mark for his career during the game and the senior was recognized after the game for his accomplishments.

Flannigan finished with eight points in the fourth quarter and 15 for the game while Bowman dropped in 15 and Stoker added 12, including three 3-pointers.

The Bearcats improved to 5-6 on the season and 1-0 in SCAA play. Dexter has won five of its last seven games after opening the season 0-4.

Dexter will next be in action Friday when the Bearcats will play their first game in the new Bearcat Events Center against the Bernie Mules.

Note: The postponed Notre Dame Regional High School game at Dexter has been rescheduled for Feb. 8th, while the Bearcats game at Woodland, also postponed, will be made up Feb. 15th.

Box

Varsity

Dexter 54, Bloomfield 41

DEXTER -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) Stoker 4-1-2-12, Summers 4-3-3-9, Hester 0-1-2-1, Flannigan 4-6-10-15, Bowman 4-3-4-13, Jarrell 1-0-0-2. Clouse 0-0-0-0, Windham 0-0-0-0. Totals: 17-14-21-54.

BLOOMFIELD -- McNeil 4-1-2-10, Hensley 3-1-3-7, Rice 2-2-4-6, Hill 4-0-0-11, Caldwell 2-0-2-4, Bader 0-1-2-1. Totals: 15-5-13-41.

3-Pointers: Dexter 6 (Stoker 3, Bowman 2, Flannigan 1); Bloomfield 4 (Hill 3, McNeil 1).