Lady 'Cats post big win in home opener

After opening the season with three road games in the Farmington Invitational tournament, the Dexter Lady Bearcats were eager and hungry for their home-opener.

Dexter didn't disappoint as the Lady Bearcats mauled the visiting Lady Lions of Senath-Hornersville, 78-23, Monday night in the friendly confines of the Bearcat Event Center.

Dexter's three long commutes to Farmington were not without rewards as the Lady 'Cats posted wins over Notre Dame Regional High School and Poplar Bluff before losing to state-ranked Miller Career Academy, 50-33 in the championship game Saturday.

JERRY JARRELL-jjarrell@dailystatesman.com Dexter's Paige Patterson (No. 32) pulls down an offensive rebound during first-high action Monday at the Bearcat Event Center. The Lady Bearcats defeated Senath-Hornersville in their home opener, 78-23

The second-place finish and lopsided loss didn't set very well with the Lady 'Cats, which was unfortunate for the Lady Lions, who are trying to rebuild this season after the loss of two outstanding players to graduation.

Dexter came out on a mission and shot nearly 80 per cent from the field in the first half. Dexter knocked down four 3-pointers, three by Alison Jarrell who finished with a game-high 21 points, in the first quarter on their way to a 30-7 advantage.

The Lady 'Cats went on to outscore the Lions in every quarter to take the win and improve to 3-1 on the year. Brittany Harris added 13 points for Dexter while Katelynn Frazier and Erika Cobb each netted nine.

"Offensively all the girls were hitting on all cylinders that first half," Dexter coach Chad Allen said after the game. "I believe they said we shot about 80 per cent that first half. Defensively I felt like we came out and put a lot of pressure on them. I thought the girls just had a great game tonight."

Allen agreed that the tough opening stretch of games at the Farmington tournament had his girls ready to play and get back on the winning track.

"Playing three tough quality teams like that... it's good to play good quality teams like that because it only makes you better coming into the game with Senath. They lost a lot from last year. They had a really great point guard and post player that went on to play at the college level, so they are down a little bit this year. Coach Johnson does a really good job with them but I thought we just came out and really got after it offensively and defensively tonight."

It will be a different story for Dexter tonight when they host conference rival Jackson at the BEC. Jackson also played the Farmington tournament and was also bounced from title contention by Miller Career Academy (46-36), which was ranked No. 5 in Class 3 in the pre-season polls. The Lady Indians defeated Poplar Bluff, 41-37, to take third-place honors.

"Well, it's definitely a totally different team," Allen said of tonight's SEMO opponent. "Jackson is a very good ball team this year. They have two D-1 signees with SEMO. It is going to be a tough matchup for us. We definitely need a match-up like that and hopefully we cam come out with our first SEMO Conference win tomorrow night.

There was just two quarters of junior varsity play.

The evening will tip-off with junior varsity action at 6 p. m. with varsity play to follow.