Dexter middle school boys take two from Poplar Bluff in front of near capacity crowd

DEXTER, Mo. - The highly anticipated middle school boys basketball matchup between the Dexter Bearcats and Poplar Bluff Mules lived up to its billing Monday night at Dexter Middle School.

A standing room only crowd watched the undefeated Dexter seventh grade boys basketball team get a defensive stop in the closing 10 seconds of regulation to secure a 40-37 victory against Poplar Bluff.

The Dexter eighth grade followed things up by rallying from a 20-19 halftime deficit to beat Poplar Bluff 44-31.

Neither team ever led by double digits in the seventh grade contest.

The Bearcats and Mules traded the lead six time in the first half. Dexter's largest lead in the first half was two and Poplar Bluff's largest lead in the first half was three.

Dexter increased its lead as large as 24-19 in the third quarter and maintained a 34-30 advantage at the start of the fourth period.

The Bearcats took its largest lead of the game at 38-32 with 3:37 left in regulation.

Poplar Bluff cut the deficit to 38-37 with 1:38 left after Justin Moses hit a trey and Brennon Chamberlain followed with a 2-pointer.

Andrew Ellinghouse made one of two free throws with 39 seconds left and Carter Dorton hit one of two free throws with 25 seconds left to pad Dexter's lead to 40-37.

Poplar Bluff inbounded the ball at half court with 11.5 seconds remaining still trailing by the final score. The Mules missed an initial 3-pointer and three desperation 2-point attempts after securing three offensive rebounds. The buzzer sounded before Poplar Bluff could get off a fifth shot in their final offensive possession.

Ryder Boles paced the Dexter seventh grade with 12 points. Ellinghouse contributed eight more. Both players hit one of Dexter's two treys.

The Dexter seventh grade hit 14 of the 25 free throws it attempted.

Brennon Chamberlain paced the Poplar Bluff seventh grade with 16 points.

7th Grade Boys: Dexter 40, Poplar Bluff 37

PMS 12 7 11 7 - 37

DMS 12 9 13 6 - 40

POPLAR BLUFF (37) - Brennon Chamberlain 16, Preston Taylor 7, Damerieus Robinson 4, Alex Ketcherside 3, Justin Moses 7. FG 15, FT 6/10, F 21. (3-pointers: Moses 1. Fouled out: none)

DEXTER (40) - Andrew Ellinghouse 8, Ryder Boles 12, Peyton Driskill 6, Ryan Collier 5, Austin Daniels 2, Riley Slusher 5. FG 12, FT 14/25, F 15. (3-pointers: Colier 1, Boles 1. Fouled out: none).

---

8th Grade Game

The Dexter eighth grade dominated the first and third quarters against Poplar Bluff.

Brodie Pollock scored 10 of his game-high 13 points in the first quarter to help Dexter build a 13-5 lead by the end of the first period.

Poplar Bluff limited Dexter to just two field goals in the second period as it moved ahead 20-19 by halftime.

Dexter held Poplar Bluff to just one field goal in the third quarter allowing it to increase its lead back to eight at 31-23at the start of the fourth quarter.

Poplar Bluff never got closer than eight in the fourth period as the Bearcats enjoyed a lead as large as 15 points before the final buzzer sounded.

Logan Henson hit three of Dexter's four treys. He finished with 12 points.

Dexter is back in action Tuesday at at Jackson. The seventh grade game begin at 5:30 p.m. with the eighth grade contest to follow.

8th Grade Boys: Dexter 44, Poplar Bluff 31

PMS 5 15 3 8 - 31

DMS 13 6 12 13 - 44

POPLAR BLUFF (31) - Dawson Hanner 2, Josiah Kilgore 5, Sammy Persons 5, Keshawn Reid 4,, Philip Toledo 6, Luke Becker 4, Chaz Casey 5. FG 12, FT 7/14 F 18. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none).

DEXTER (44) - Logan Wyman 8, Spencer Warren 1, Haden Hillis 4, Garrett Henson 12, Brodie Pollock 19. FG 17, FT 6/16, F 11. (3-pointers: Wyman 1, Henson 3. Fouled out:: Warren).