DEXTER DEFEATS RAMS IN BATTLE OF NO. 1 TEAMS

DEXTER -- After being outscored 32-21 in the first half Friday night, Scott City might have felt that it had weathered an impressive Dexter storm.

But the first half was just a prelude to the real show as a tornado in the form of Brett Hale finally unveiled his turbulence, leaving 25 second-half points -- and Scott City's second loss of the season -- in his wake.

Hale scored a game-high 30 points and dominated the second half as the Bearcats demolished Scott City 77-59 in a battle of two of the state's top-ranked teams.

While Dexter, No. 1 in 3A, played one of its better games of the season, 2A Scott City played one of its worst.

"We shot the ball very poorly," said Scott City coach Derek McCord. "We just couldn't get our shots to fall." McCord wasn't kidding.

The Rams (23-2) missed all 12 of their 3-point attempts and shot just 34 percent from the field (20 of 58).

Dexter, meanwhile, was on top of its game, particularly in the second.

The Bearcats (24-1) made 20 of their 34 shots in the second half for 59 percent. For the game, Dexter shot 45 percent and made eight of 20 from 3-point range.

"In the second half, we started playing Dexter basketball," said Dexter coach Paul Hale. "We didn't shoot the ball well the first half, which was a carryover from Doniphan (Dexter's first loss). But in the second half it was lights out."

Brett Hale, Paul's son, was almost personally responsible for putting the game away in the second half. The 6-foot-1 junior scored 17 points in the third, 15 of which came in the first 4:13 of the third quarter. During that span, Dexter went on a 19-6 run and scored on its first eight possessions.

"I just had to keep shooting," said Brett Hale, who was shaky in the first half, throwing up two air-balls and missing several shots. "I didn't shoot well in the first half. I just had to keep after it. This is what you practice for."

From there, the Rams went on a 10-2 run and went into the fourth quarter down 53-37.

Dexter then put on another impressive display, scoring on seven of its first nine possessions, including eight more points by Hale.

For such a lopsided game, the atmosphere was unbelievable. Fans started arriving for the 7:30 p.m. game at 4 p.m. The gymnasium was packed and fans were being turned away at the gate soon before the tipoff.

And though the fans weren't treated to a competitive game, it sure was an interesting one.

There were three technical fouls called, one intentional foul, two missed dunks and one kicked-out fan.

Two of the technicals were called on Scott City. One was on Ryan Weatherspoon for hanging onto the rim after a missed dunk and the other was called on McCord after protesting a call and falling down in front of his bench.

"My slip and fall didn't help much," joked McCord.

While McCord made light of his technical, he wasn't pleased with his team's free throw performance. Scott City made just three of its 11 foul shots in the first half and made 21 of 36 for the game.

In both of Scott City's losses this season, the Rams have not shot free throws well.

Ronald Watson, who also missed a dunk, led Scott City with 20 points, though seven came late in the fourth when the game was decided. Scott Johnston added 14 points and Ben Sample scored 10.

For Dexter, Shawn Guethle scored five 3-pointers and scored 17 points in all. Scott Mattingly scored 14.