Bernie survives a scare at Dexter

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter and Bernie players battled under the boards during Friday night's 57-51 win by the Mules at the Bearcat Event Center. [Click to enlarge]

Dexter gave Bernie a scare Friday in front of a near capacity crowd on Homecoming night at the new Bearcat Event Center, but the Mules were solid down the stretch and did just enough to hold on for a 57-51 victory.

"Obviously, coming into Dexter on their Homecoming and opening up a new beautiful gymnasium, it's going to be tough to play," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said after the game. "They're tough to play anyway. Coming up here and just finding a way to get a win is the main thing.

"We knew it was going to be a battle and I though the kids really buckled down when they needed to," Botsch continued. "We don't feel like we played up to our complete potential but you know, these type of games are going to make us better later in the year."

Bernie made it look easy early, building a 20-13 first quarter lead and then taking advantage of five second quarter turnovers by Dexter to push the advantage to 33-22 at the half. But the Bearcats turned things around in the third quarter.

"I wish we wouldn't have got down to the 13 to them there in the first half and had to expend a lot of energy to get back in the game in the third quarter," Dexter coach Rob Nichols said of a rally that saw the 'Cats outscore the Mules 20-10. "They held us off down the stretch. They're a good basketball team and they played with poise down the stretch."

Dexter took a brief lead with 41 second remaining in the third on a 3-pointer by Jon Bowman that energized the crowd, but Sammy Walker scored down low at the buzzer as the Bearcats defense had moved out to try and guard against the 3-point shot.

Jake Smith took advantage of Dexter's extended defense to score the first two baskets of the fourth quarter inside, but another Bowman trey and a drive and score by Bryn Hester tied the game at 47-all with 5:13 on the clock.

The following sequence could have determined the outcome of the game.

Walker missed Bernie's next shot, but the rugged junior gathered in his own rebound, missed again, but cleared the boards once more before being fouled. He missed both free throws, but Jake Owens grabbed the second miss and put up a shot that was off. Jake Smith crashed the boards but his shot was also off the mark before Walker finally scrapped for the ball and scored to give the Mules a 49-47 lead.

Bowman hit the front end of a one-and-one after being fouled (49-48), but Walker converted an old-fashion 3-point play on Bernie's next possession to make it 52-48. The Mules hit 5-of-8 free throws down the stretch as the 'Cats could only manage a Ryan Windham free throw and a basket by Alan Flannigan.

"Sammy (Walker) played outstanding," Botsch said of his bench player who stepped up with an 11 point night, five coming in the fourth quarter. "He's just a solid kid, just brut strong. He's not very athletic, but man he gets a lot done for what he's got."

Jordan McGowan and Jake Smith joined Walker with 11 point nights, while Jake Owens finished with nine points on three 3-pointers in the first half.

"I really thought we had a lot of good open looks for three, but we just didn't make them consistently," Botsch commented. "Owens made three in the first half, but after that, Cameron (Shipman) hit a couple there. But I know Jordan McGowan, Cameron and Jake Owens, those three kids, I guarantee you that they took between 1500 and 2000 3-pointers this week. They are going to be good shooters. Sometimes you shoot better on certain nights than you do others. Bottom line is the kids really won the game on the defensive boards late, and playing solid defense late and making Dexter earn everything they got."

Junior Alan Flannigan had another big game for the 'Cats with a game-high 23 points, while Windham had his best offensive game of the season with 12.

For Dexter, now 5-7 and 1-1 in SCAA play, it was the second close loss to the Mules this season. Bernie took a 4-point win in a semifinal meeting of the two teams at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

"We played pretty well in the second half," a disappointed Nichols said. "Bernie is not a team that you really want to get a double digit hole on because they score so well. All-in-all from halftime on we played pretty well."

Bernie improved to 13-1 on the season and will next be in action on the road Tuesday for a SCAA game at Bloomfield. Dexter will also be on the road for a SCAA game at Puxico Tuesday night.

Box

Varsity

Bernie 57, Dexter 51

BERNIE -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) Welch 2-4-7-8, Owens 3-0-0-9, Smith 4-3-4-11, McGowan 4-2-5-11, J. Walker 0-1-2-1, S. Walker 5-1-3-11, Shipman 2-0-0-6. Totals: 20-11-21-57.

DEXTER -- Stoker 0-0-0-0, Windham 5-1-2-12, Summers 2-0-0-5, Hester 2-0-1-4, Flannigan 23, Bowman 2-1-2-7, Clouse 0-0-0-0, Jarrell 0-0-0-0. Totals: 19-5-8-51.

3-Pointers: Bernie 6 (Owens 3, Shipman 2, McGowan 1); Dexter 5 (Bowman 2, Flannigan 1, Windham 1, Summers 1).

Fouled Out: Dexter-Windham; Bernie- None.

Junior Varsity

Dexter 75, Bernie 43

BERNIE -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) Woods 3-3-4-10, Turner 4-0-0-12, Barnett 2-2-2-6, Baker 4-2-4-10, Clayton 2-1-1-5. Totals: 15-8-11-43.

DEXTER -- D. Fotts 2-0-0-4, J. Fitts 7-1-2-17, Young 5-2-2-15, Miller 0-1-2-1, Stafford 1-0-0-2, Lee 8-1-7-17, Summers 2-1-2-5, Joyner 1-0-0-2. Totals: 32-6-15-75.

3-Pointers: Bernie 5 (Turner 4, Woods 1); Dexter 5 (Young 3, J. Fitts 2).

Fouled out: Dexter-Miller; Bernie-None