PARK HILLS, Mo. - The Dexter Bearcats varsity girls basketball team suffered a 71-57 loss at state-ranked Park Hills Central Monday night.
Park Hills jumped out to a 20-7 lead in the first quarter before Dexter responded with 11 unanswered points to trim the deficit to 20-18 with six minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bearcats took its first lead of the game at 25-24 with four minutes left in the second period and maintained a 36-33 lead at halftime.
Park Hills outscored Dexter 19-6 in the third period to move ahead 52-42 by the start of the fourth period. Dexter had just one made field goal in the first eight minutes of the second half.
The Bearcats scored the first five points of the fourth period to trim the deficit to 52-47 with seven minutes remaining, but never got closer as Park Hills ended the game on a 19-10 run.
Megan Skaggs tallied 27 points after halftime to pace Park Hills with 32 points.
Dexter freshman Krysten Garrison hit nine of 10 free throws. She paced Dexter with 20 points.
Melanie McKuin also finished in double digits for the Bearcats with 17 points.
Harley Allen hit half of Dexter's six treys. Allen calculated all nine of her points in the second period.
Park Hills, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 3, improves to 16-1 with the victory.
Dexter (8-6) is back in action Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when it hosts traditional Class 5 powerhouse St. Joseph's Academy.
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BERNIE, Mo. - The Bernie Mules varsity boys basketball team cruised past Holcomb 64-39 Monday night.
Brandon Sparks paced the Mules with 20 points. Matt Vernon added 15 more points. Caleb Ellenburg and Gavin Smith tallied 11 points a piece for Bernie.
"Our guard play was improved tonight," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said in a press release. "I thought we had some kids step up and make some changes that were emphasized. It's important for us to play well every possession on both sides of the ball and we have to have that mentality.
"We host a very good Bloomfield team here [Tuesday] night," Botsch added. "Our kids will have to play very well to win. Our margin of error is so small, and hopefully our guys will really value each and every possession [Tuesday] night."
Bernie (13-2) hosts Bloomfield (9-5) Tuesday.
Varsity: Bernie 64, Holcomb 39
HHS 11 8 16 4 - 39
BHS 19 16 9 20 - 64
HOLCOMB (39) - Preston McClendon 2, Jorden Massey 13, Zach Bridges 2, Preston Sikes 2, Jacob Adkins 4, Chance Davis 14, Ben Vance 2. FG 19, FT 1/5, F 22. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)
BERNIE (64) - Matt Vernon 15, Login Wood 4, Brandon Sparks 20, Caleb Ellenburg 11, Gavin Smith 11, Gavin Brown 3. FG 20, FT 19/27, F 11. (3-pointers: Vernon 3, Sparks 1, Wood 1. Fouled out: none)
Notes: Holcomb beat Bernie 58-37 in the JV game.
Bloomfield edges Malden 45-44