Advance falls to Bloomfield; Dexter rolls against Puxico at SCAA tournament

Jerry Jarrell photo Bloomfield's Leighton Hensley (No. 21) puts up a shot against Advance's Matt Ware during SCAA tournament action Tuesday at Bloomfield. [Click to enlarge]

Matt Ware's 3-point shot for the win at the buzzer was just off and Bloomfield could finally breath a sigh of relief after a hard-earned 55-53 victory at home in first-round action at the SCAA Tournament Tuesday night.

An off balance, running 3-pointer by Grant Gray seconds earlier had pulled Advance to within one point of Bloomfield, 54-53. Advance quickly fouled Garrett Rice who hit the front end of a one-and-one, but missed the second to keep the Hornets in striking distance with 11 second remaining.

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter's Bryn Hester (right) goes for the steal against Puxico's Tyler Woolard during the Bearcats' 80-44 win in first round play at the SCAA tournament at Bloomfield Tuesday night. [Click to enlarge]

Gray, who hit six 3-pointers on the night, pushed the ball up court and took the first shot at the win from behind the arc, but couldn't connect this time. A battle for the rebound went out of bounds off a Bloomfield player to give the Hornets one more chance with .08 showing on the clock.

Advance coach Josh Dowdy called a time-out to set up a play. Bloomfield was concentrating on Gray as the ball was put in play, which helped Ware find an open look from the corner that was just off the rim to end the game.

Advance, the tournament No. 4 seed, led for nearly the entire game, until Bloomfield wrestled the lead away on a Seth Hill trey at the 4:48 mark of the fourth quarter. Ware hit two free throws to push the Hornets out front 46-45, but Bloomfield ran off the next seven points to build a 52-46 cushion with 2:53 remaining.

Gray, who finished with a game-high 24 points, responded with another trey (52-49) and VanGennip added a free throw before Hill knocked down two free throws to make it a 54-50 game and set the stage for the heart-stopping finish.

"We needed one of these," Bloomfield coach Dustin Hicks said after the game. "We've kind of been on the short end of the stick in games where we've had to grid it out, where we've had to play from behind. We've gotten really close several times this season, but not able to come out on the winning end of it.

"Josh (Dowdy) is always on the sideline and its hard with me and him," Hicks continued. "I'm always trying to counter what he's doing and he's trying to counter me, and I feel like we both get a lot our of our kids, so when we get together it makes for an interesting ball game. It was just a tough game with two opponents playing really hard. I couldn't be prouder of the boys to survive and advance."

Bloomfield, the No. 5 seed, will now take on No. 1 Bernie, ranked No. 4 in Class 2, in one semifinal contest Thursday night at 8:30.

" I'd like to find somebody who has a tougher road than us," Hicks noted of his team's draw. "Go through Advance, turn around and play Bernie and then either way have to play Dexter or Richland. County is really a tough place to be this year, but it makes for fun nights like this."

No. 2 Dexter 80, No. 7 Puxico 44

Both teams left the defense on the sideline to open this other first round game as Dexter and Puxico combined for 42 first quarter points.

Dexter held the advantage, 24-18, but the Bearcats appeared to slowly wear down the Indians as the game unfolded, eventually bringing the mercy clock into play early in the fourth quarter.

"We just weren't playing very good defense early in the game," Dexter coach Rob Nichols said after watching his team advance. Corey Davis and John Smith were getting what ever they wanted in he paint. After half time we kind of settled in and starting playing some good defense. Probably just wore Puxico down a little bit."

Dexter knocked down nine 3-pointers on the night, five by Brandon Stoker who finished with 23 points.

Alan Flannigan, Dexter's 6'6" center, had his way in the paint on his way to a game-high 29 points. The junior also added a 3-pointer, and set out most of the fourth quarter. He had 17 points in the first quarter.

Dexter will now take on No. 3 Richland, ranked No. 6 in Class 1, in Thursday's first semifinal game at 7 o'clock.

"Richland is playing real well," Nichols said of the Bearcats' next opponent. "They've only loss a couple of games all year and they have four really good players, so it's going to be a big challenge for us."

Junior Varsity

No. 1 Dexter 55, No. 8 Richland 23

Dexter began defense of its SCAA jayvee title with a runaway win over the Rebels.

Dexter pounded the ball inside to Jake Lee early while building a 18-8 advantage. Lee had 10 points in the first period and finished with 14 for the game, all in the first half.

The 'Cats cranked up the defense in the second and held Richland to just 2 points to take a 33-12 half-time lead.

Richland's jayvee team played without the services of 6'10 freshman Richard Forshee, who was moved up to the varsity squad for the tournament.

Also scoring in double figures for Dexter were Tyler Miller with 15 and Daniel Fitts with 11.

Dexter will next be in action Thursday against No. 4 Puxico at 5:30.

No. 4 Puxico 53, No. 5 Advance 44

Nathan Martin scored 20 points for the Indians, who slowly added to a lead each of the first three quarters.

Advance's Ethan Barr led all players with 21 points, nine coming in the fourth quarter as the Hornets tried to mount a late come-back attempt.

No. 2 Dexter 80, No. 7 Puxico 44

Both teams left the defense on the sideline to open the other first round game as Dexter and Puxico combined for 42 first quarter points.

Dexter held the advantage, 24-18, but the Bearcats appeared to wear down the Indians later in the game, eventually bringing the mercy clock into play early in the fourth quarter.

Dexter knocked down nine 3-pointers on the night, five by Brandon Stoker who finished with 23 points.

Alan Flannigan, Dexter's 6'6" center, had his way in the paint on his way to a game-high 29 points. The junior also added a 3-pointer, and set out most of the fourth quarter. He had 17 points in the first quarter.

Dexter will now take on No. 3 Richland, ranked No. 6 in Class 1, in Thursday's first semifinal game at 7 o'clock.

SCAA Tournament

At Bloomfield

Tuesday's Results

Varsity

No. 2 Dexter 80, No. 7 Puxico 44

Puxico 18 10 13 3 - 44

Dexter 24 14 27 15 - 80

PUXICO -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) Harty 2-0-0-6, Walker 1-1-2-3, Durall 1-1-2-3, Hofmeister 0-1-2-1, Smith 7-1-2-15, Woolard 1-0-0-3, Davis 7-2-3-16. Totals: 18-5-9-44.

DEXTER -- Stoker 9-0-0-23, Windham 1-1-3-3, Summers 4-0-0-8, Hester 1-0-0-2, Flannigan 14-0-0-29, Robey 1-1-3-4, Bowman2-0-0-6, Phillips 1-0-0-2, Jarrell 1-1-2-3. Totals: 34-3-8-80.

3-Pointers: Puxico 3 (Moore 2, Woolard 1); Dexter 9 (Stoker 5, Bowman 2, Flannigan 1, Robey 1).

No. 5 Bloomfield 55, No. 4 Advance 53

BLOOMFIELD -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) McNeil 1-2-2-4, Hensley 7-1-3-15, Rice 3-3-4-11, Hhill 1-4-4-7, Caldwell 5-3-6-13, Bader 1-1-1-3, Skaggs 0-2-2-2. Totals: 18-16-22-55.

ADVANCE -- Gray 9-0-0-24, Ware 1-2-2-4, VanGennip 3-1-2-8, Middleton 2-4-4-8, Spears 0-1-3-1, Steil 4-0-0-8. Totals: 19-8-11-53.

3-Pointers: Bloomfield 3 (Rice 2, Hill 1); Advance 7 (Gray 6, VanGennip 1).

Junior Varsity

No. 1 Dexter 55, No. 8 Richland 23

Richland 8 2 8 5 - 23

Dexter 18 15 10 12 - 55

RICHLAND -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) Montgomery 2-1-3-5, Barnes 1-0-0-2, Gilbert 5-1-1-11, Britt 2-0-0-5. Totals: 10-2-4-23.

DEXTER -- D.Fitts 4-1-4-11, J. Fitts 1-0-0-2, Miller 1-0-1-2, Lee 5-4-7-14, Miller 6-3-4-15, Summers 2-0-2-4, Joyner 0-1-2-1, Willis 0-1-2-1, Ward 1-0-0-3, Wilson 0-2-4-2. Totals: 20-12-26-55.

3-Pointers: Richland 1 (Britt); Dexter 3 (D. Fitts 2, Ward 1).

No. 4 Puxico 53, No. 5 Advance 44

Advance 11 12 8 13 - 44

Puxico 13 17 14 9 - 53

ADVANCE -- (fg-ftm-fta-tp) Bien 1-0-0-2, Veale 2-0-0-5, Middleston 2-1-1-5, Moses 3-0-0-7, Davais 1-0-0-2, Gilliland 1-0-0-2, Barr 10-1-3-21. Totals: 20-2-4-44.

PUXICO - Plunkett 3-0-0-7, Crane 3-0-0-6, Camden 4-1-2-9, Martion 6-7-9-20, Gadberry 3-1-2-7, Roberts 2-0-0-4. Totals: 21-9-13-53.

3-Pointers: Advance 2 (Veals 1, Moses 1); Puxico 2 (Martin 1, Plunkett 1).