SCAA Tournament: No. 5 seeded Puxico sneaks past No. 4 seeded Dexter 51-50 in OT

Note: 16 Photos of Monday action are available in a gallery at this link: View Photos Here

DEXTER, Mo. - An old-fashioned style 3-point play proved to be the difference in Monday night's SCAA varsity boys basketball quarterfinal between the fourth-seeded Dexter Bearcats and fifth-seeded Puxico Indians.

Puxico six-foot-two junior forward Seth Luttrull hit a 2-pointer in the paint with 29 seconds remaining in overtime to force a 50-50 tie. Luttrull was fouled by Noah Kronk on the shot. He followed the made field goal with a made free throw to put Puxico on top 51-50.

"We had been talking to them the whole time about attacking," Puxico coach Jon Simpher said of the game-winning play. "Luttrull finally attacked. To hit that free throw he must have had ice in his veins because I think everybody else was shaking."

The Bearcats moved the ball to halfcourt and called timeout with 15 seconds remaining after the free throw. Following the timeout Ethan Flowers got a fadeaway jumper off around the 3-point line near the Dexter student cheering section with a few seconds left that made contact with the rim but did not fall. Puxico rebounded the ball with less than two seconds remaining and managed to run the clock out before a foul was called and escaped with a 51-50 victory.

"We got a shot we wanted," Dexter coach Rob Nichols said. "I'm satisfied with the look we got."

Puxico scored the first four points of overtime to move head 46-42 with 2:27 remaining. Dexter scored the next four to tie things up again at 46-46 with 2:06 remaining. Puxico led 48-46 with 1:50 remaining before Dexter moved back ahead 50-48 with 55 seconds left.

Overtime didn't appear likely with 90 seconds remaining. Peyton Pollock drained back-to-back free throws to give Dexter a 42-38 lead with 1:29 remaining in regulation.

Corey Pratt scored his first points on back-to-back free throws with 1:21 remaining that cut the deficit to 42-40.

Tim Hancock followed with a game-changing play when he picked off a pass on Dexter's side of half court and sprinted the other way for a 2-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to tie things up at 42-42.

"Coming out of the timeout we were looking to trap or get a steal," Simpher said. "We were going to play overly aggressive. Tim Hancock read the pass correctly and was able to get a finger on it and go down and make a big lay-up."

Dexter moved the ball to half court with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter and called timeout after Puxico tied things up. Dowdy missed a deep two in the closing seconds of regulation following the timeout.

Dexter tallied the first nine points of the game to take a 9-0 lead with 4:35 remaining in the first quarter. Puxico rallied to tie things up at 17-17 by the 4:46 mark of the second quarter.

"Coming out we just weren't ready to go yet," Simpher said. "We took a little kick, but the kids did a great job fighting back the rest of the game."

Puxico never led in the third quarter or fourth quarter. Dexter's largest second-half lead was five at 31-26 with 3:05 left in the third quarter, 36-31 with 6:50 left in regulation and 38-33 with 3:42 remaining in the fourth period.

"We guarded well and made them miss that first shot," Nichols said.

Dowdy led Dexter in scoring with 13 points. Flowers scored 11 points and Pollock tallied 10.

"He played hard and you never doubt his effort," Nichols said of Dowdy. "He came out with a lot of energy and hit some shots."

Zack Tucker scored all seven of Puxico's points in the third quarter. He finished with a team-high 21 points.

Austin Teichman tallied nine of his 14 points for Puxico in the first quarter and the rest in the fourth period.

Puxico will play the nightcap Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. against the winner of a Tuesday quarterfinal that features No. 1 seeded Bernie and No. 8 seeded Richland.

"We are all looking forward to getting to see Bernie again," Simpher said. "We are ready to play them. Unfortunately, we have to wait until Thursday to play, but it will be nice to carry that momentum over."

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Dexter's D.J. Dowdy takes a layup Monday night at the Bearcat Event Center.

---

Varsity Boys: No. 5 Puxico 51, No. 4 Dexter 50

PHS 11 13 7 11 9 - 51

DHS 14 10 7 11 8 -- 50

PUXICO (51) -- Corey Pratt 2, Austin Teichman 14, Tim Hancock 7, Seth Luttrull 7, Zack Tucker 21. FG 19, FT 12/19, F 19. (3-pointers: Teichman 1. Fouled out: Payne, Teichman)

DEXTER (50) -- Noak Kronk 4, D.J. Dowdy 13, Peyton Pollock 10, Austin Chesser 3, Ethan Flowers 11, Chandler Young 9. FG 17, FT 13/18, F 18. (3-pointers: Pollock 2, Flowers 1. Fouled out: none)