Dexter GBB coach seeking offensive growth, even in rout of Twin Rivers

DEXTER – As the clock ticked down in the final seconds of Dexter’s convincing 57-35 girl’s basketball victory over Twin Rivers on Tuesday at the Bearcat Event Center, fourth-year Dexter coach Eric Sitze sat alongside assistant coach Jamie Rowe and was very animated with his gestures regarding his team’s offensive execution.

“It was something that we talked about earlier in the game,” Sitze said of the discussion, “and we were still doing it wrong.”

There hasn’t been much “wrong” about the 2022-23 season for the Bearcats, who improved to 9-3 with Tuesday’s win.

This group is defending better than any Bearcat squad in the past decade, while offensively, which is where Sitze’s frustrations were grounded throughout Tuesday’s game, Dexter is producing better than any Dexter team since 2019.

“It’s simple stuff,” Sitze explained. “Some of our turnovers are because we don’t execute, or we don’t finish the play.”

Sitze is paid to study the minutia of each play more so than anyone else in the gym, and what he was speaking of was his players “turning the corner and drawing the other defender,” as well as their ability to “beat your man off the dribble.”

“It is really kind of simple stuff,” Sitze continued.

On the surface, however, the Bearcats dominated Twin Rivers at both ends throughout the contest.

Dexter jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the opening quarter and stretched that margin to 24-13 by halftime, as senior center Caitlin Giles was unguardable.

“Caitlin has been really good for us,” Sitze said. “Not just offensively. She’s been rebounding and defending for us.”

Giles had 14 points by halftime and finished the night with a career-best 30 points.

“I felt like (Twin Rivers) was a little bit slower than us,” Giles said, “and we were able to drive it in better and get a few open lay-ups.”

Giles finished with 12 baskets and sank 6 of her 9 free throws, while sophomore Kate Nichols added 13 points and junior Abbie Lloyd added nine in the win.

As it turned out, neither coach was enamored with their team’s offensive game.

Twin Rivers (5-5) made just five first-half baskets but was able to score 11 points in each of the final two quarters.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive,” Royals coach David Crockett said. “We’re playing too passive.”

Twin Rivers is averaging less than 39 points per game this season, which is the least amount of production in well over a decade for the program.

“We’re afraid that we’re going to make a mistake,” Crockett said, “or we’re going to miss a shot. You can’t play that way. Our mindset has to change.”

The Royals utilized eight players on Tuesday, five of which aren’t seniors.

“This is a young group,” Crockett explained. “We’re not shooting the ball very well, and we’re letting that determine how we play defense.

“That can’t be that way.”

Senior Hannah Bader, who is playing on an injured left leg (knee), led Twin Rivers with 11 points, while sophomore shooter Reese Crismon added nine points and sank a pair of 3-pointers.

Junior Amelia Douglas added eight points in the loss.

Dexter will host Farmington on Thursday at 6:45 p.m., while Twin Rivers will embark on a road trip to Indiana at 5 p.m. on Friday.

The Royals will face Ellington, in the historic former Knightstown (Ind.) High School gymnasium (an hour east of Indianapolis), where the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed as the home to the fictional team, Hickory Huskers.