Hot shooting helps Dexter boys edge Perryville 75-69

DEXTER, Mo. - The Dexter Bearcats varsity boys basketball team put together one of its best shooting performances of the season Monday night against the Perryville Pirates.

The Bearcats shot 25 of 33 from the free throw line and had six players tally at least nine points as it beat Perryville 75-69 to secure its first home victory of the season.

"I thought we played well," Dexter coach Rob Nichols said. "We've had several close games this year that didn't go our way. I think the biggest thing tonight is we shot the ball pretty good. We've had some games where we've lost by one or two points and when I go back and do the stats we shot 24 or 28 percent. I thought especially at the end of the third quarter we spread our offense and our kids got some kick action and stepped up and hit some shots."

Dexter never trailed the Pirates.

The Bearcats scored the first six points of the game and increased its lead to 13-5 with less than one minute left in the first quarter. Perryville narrowed the margin to 20-18 with 2:50 left in the first half. The Bearcats closed the half on an 8-3 run and entered halftime with a 28-21 advantage.

Perryville made up all the deficit in the first three minutes of the second half. A 2-pointer by Trenton Green tied things up at 32-32 with 5:07 left in the third quarter.

The Pirates trailed 45-39 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. In the final 10 seconds of the third quarter two Perryville turnovers, a layup by D.J. Dowdy and a 3-pointer by Noah Kronk allowed the Bearcats to extend its lead to 50-39.

"That was a big turning point," Nichols said. "We went from being up seven at the half to tied. After that our kids dug in and built that lead back up. Then the fourth quarter they started fouling pretty early and we did a great job of making free throws."

A 3-pointer by Ethan Flowers gave the Bearcats its largest lead at 53-39 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Perryville trimmed the deficit to as close as six at 63-57 with 2:46 remaining but never got closer.

The Pirates, which dress four players who are at least six-foot-four, were led in scoring by six-foot-eight center Colin Schirmer. Schirmer tallied 16 of his team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter.

Garrett Martin hit three of Perryville's five 3-pointers. He finished with 15 points.

"They came in 12-7 with a good season going," Nichols said. "Schirmer inside is not only six-eight, but he's strong. He's a big, thick kid that handles himself well. Even though he had 26 a lot of those were late. I thought for the better part of three quarters we did a pretty good job of at least making him work for position . . . He was not just grabbing it and scoring by the rim."

Dowdy had at least one 2-pointer in every quarter. He paced Dexter with 18 points.

Dexter six-foot-three sophomore center Cole Renken scored all 13 of his points in the first half. Dexter sophomore guard Austin Chesser scored all 13 of his points after halftime. Dexter junior forward Peyton Pollock also scored all 10 of his points in the second half.

Flowers finished with 12 points and Kronk added nine more.

"We haven't had that all year," Nichols said of the offensive output. "We've had some games where at least two guys get in double digits. We've rarely had three in double digits. It shows our kids were sharing the ball a little bit better. We scored some with our defense too and that always helps."

The Bearcats made 18 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"We've lost three or four one or two-point games this year when our free throw shooting or overall shooting had been poor," Nichols said. "The kids tonight hit some big shots when we were getting stops. In the fourth quarter we made about every free throw until the end. I was really proud of those guys stepping up and hitting free throws."

Dexter (4-12) is scheduled to host Bell City Tuesday night.

"There are no easy games for us," Nichols said. "We've got to come out and play. They will be competitive and that will be a game we will have to play well to win. It will be the last county game so our kids should be excited playing at home and we hope to have a good effort."

Varsity:Dexter 75, Perryville 69

PHS 8 13 18 30 - 69

DHS 13 15 22 25 - 75

PERRYVILLE (69) - Grant Dix 5, Trenton Green 8, Luke Schlichting 2, Brett Schnurbusch 4, Garrett Martin 15, Colin Stief 2, Eli Tripp 7, Colin Schirmer 26. FG 24, FT 16/20, F 20. (3-pointers: Green 2, Martin 3. Fouled out: none)

DEXTER (75) - Noah Kronk 9, D.J. Dowdy 18, Peyton Pollock 10, Austin Chesser 13, Ethan Flowers 12, Cole Renken 13. FG 22, FT 25/33, F 14. (3-pointers: Kronk 1, Pollock 1, Chesser 2, Flowers 2. Fouled out: none)

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JUNIOR VARSITY

Dexter's Jason Jarrell drove the length of the floor and passed the ball to Tyler Heil who hit a 2-pointer in the paint at the buzzer to secure a 50-48 win against Perryville in the junior varsity contest Monday. The drive started with 4.5 seconds remaining on the clock following a timeout.

Jarrell paced Dexter with 22 points. Addison Moore tallied 14 more.

JV Boys: Dexter 50, Perryville 48

PHS 6 16 12 14 - 48

DHS 8 8 12 22 - 50

PERRYVILLE (48) - Kyle Wood 2, Ryan Noland 4, Conner Stark 14, Garrett Johnson 2, McGwire Bartley 5, Wyatt Johnson 3, Nathan Noland 5, Austin Mueller 5, Eric Lappe 8. FG 14, FT 17/24, F 15. (3-pointers: Stark 1, Bartley 1, Lappe 1. Fouled out: none)

DEXTER (50) - Jason Jarrell 22, Jacob Pedigo 5, Tyler Heil 4, Austin Chesser 5, Addison Moore 14. FG 18, FT 14/18, F 17. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)