Hot shooting fuels Dexter past Twin Rivers in Lady Royals Classic semifinal

BROSELEY, Mo. - The offensive trio of Dakota Reynolds, Melanie McKuin and Krysten Garrison was more than enough to propel the Dexter Bearcats to its fourth straight Lady Royals Classic title game Monday afternoon.

Reynolds, McKuin and Garrison combined to score 66 points as three-time defending champ Dexter secured a 79-61 semifinal victory against host Twin Rivers.

"Dakota, Melanie and Garrison played an extremely good game tonight," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "Garrison didn't really come out of the game very much. She wanted the ball inside, we got it to her and she scored a lot of points inside. Melanie and Dakota were really hot on the perimeter. They didn't miss much."

Fourth-seeded Twin Rivers hung with top-seeded Dexter for a little over a quarter.

Dexter led 18-16 at the end of the first period and 20-19 in the opening minute of the second period.

A 9-0 run padded Dexter's advantage to 29-19 by the 5:27 mark of the second period.

The Bearcats led 43-26 at halftime and maintained at least a 16 point advantage throughout the second half.

"I thought with how much energy we had that first quarter we sort of wore them down a little bit and then made that huge run the second quarter," Allen said.

The Bearcats had a pair of players foul out for a second straight game as forward Hannah Thurmon and Karaline Keirsey were whistled for their fifth fouls late in the second half.

"We had a lot of energy tonight," Allen said. "We were moving well and with that said we got in a little bit of foul trouble. But I thought our girls that came off the bench for us did a really good job filling in for the girls that got in foul trouble."

Dexter shot an unprecedented nine of 15 from 3-point range. Reynolds made six of the seven treys she attempted and McKuin hit half of the six 3-pointers she took.

McKuin finished with 24 points, Garrison scored 22 and Reynolds added 20 more.

McKuin had six of her team's 10 assists and Garrison collected four of her club's seven steals.

Jaysea Morgan and Casey Douglas paced Twin Rivers with 20 and 19 points respectively.

Dexter brought down 45 rebounds.

"I thought we did a decent job on the boards," Allen said. "We still struggled at times getting a good blockout to secure a rebound, but all-in-all we did a decent job on the boards."

Dexter takes on No. 2 seeded Neelyville Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the championship of the 16-team tournament. Neelyville beat third-seeded Naylor 70-35 in the other semifinal Monday.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Dexter's Krysten Garrison takes a shot in the paint.

No. 1 Dexter 79, No. 4 Twin Rivers 61

TRS 16 10 20 15 - 61

DHS 18 25 24 12 - 79

TWIN RIVERS (61) - Jaysea Morgan 20, Hannah Baxter 5, Katelyn South 3, Kira Cunningham 4, Kylee Lewis 5, Casey Douglas 19, Darian Doser 5. FG 17, FT 24/39, F 20. (3-pointers: Baxter 1, South 1, Lewis 1. Fouled out: none)

DEXTER (79) - Dakota Reynolds 20, Melanie McKuin 24, Sydney Rogers 5, Cheyenne Mosby 2, Hannah Thurmon 4, Krysten Garrison 22, Harley Allen 2, FG 31, FT 8/21, F 28. (Reynolds 6, McKuin 3. Fouled out: Thurmon, Karaline Keirsey)

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Dexter's Melanie McKuin releases a 3-pointer.

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