Dexter uses three point buckets to down Neelyville 65-54

The Dexter Lady Bearcats snapped a two game losing streak by defeating the Neelyville Lady Tigers 65-54 Thursday evening at the Bearcat Event Center.

In the first half the Lady Tigers made it tough for Dexter to get the ball inside. Dexter countered very effectively with their outside game. Abbie Lloyd opened the scoring nailing a trey scoring the first of her 18 points on the evening. Parker Ernst and Allison Prince each responded with a bucket to give Neelyville a 4-3 lead.

Dexter's Allison Turnbo answered with a three to give Dexter a 6-4 lead. Ernst then tied the game at 6 before Layni Dobbins scored off a steal to give Neelyville a 8-6 lead.

Dexter then went on a 9-2 run led by Lloyd and Turnbo who had the hot hand early. Turnbo delivered a Trey and Lloyd two three point buckets during the run.

Neelyville closed the gap to 17-14 before Lloyd drained another three at the buzzer to give Dexter a 20-14 lead after one quarter.

In the second quarter Neelyville cut the Dexter lead to 20-17. Turnbo then scored an old fashioned three after being fouled while scoring on a two point jump shot. She then added the free throw to complete the three point play.

Kate Nichols scored the next 14 points for Dexter. She scored nine of the 14 from beyond the arc. Prince nearly equaled Nichols dropping in ten points in the second quarter to help keep Neelyville in the game. Dexter took a 37-33 lead into the half.

Dexter coach Eric Sitze spoke about Dexter's overall play after the game.

“I just thought the girls really played hard, that's a really good team, Neelyville plays so hard, they are so competitive, they are hard to beat” said Sitze. “We played great, you know we had a rough game the other night against Kennett and I think the girls just decided they were going to play more confident tonight, more aggressive, they played to their potential.”

Neelyville scored the first four in the second half to tie the game at 37. Dexter answered with the next five points to take a 42-37 lead. A 6-0 run gave Neelyville the lead at 43-42. Lloyd scored to give Dexter a 44-43 lead but Ernst answered giving the Lady Tigers a 45-44 lead.

The Lady Bearcats then went on a 9-1 run ending with a buzzer beater this time by Nichols. Dexter took a 53-46 lead into the final quarter. Sitze spoke about Dexter outside play and Neelyville defensive change in the second half to try to slow Dexter's offense.

“We shot it really well the first half and I think they extended their defense on us in the second half and tried to take that away from us,” said Sitze. “We still shot it decent the second, we didn't shoot as many but we were pretty accurate. So I think they extended their defense a little bit and we took advantage trying to get it (the ball) inside.They had to switch to a man to man, they switched to a man to man defense, that makes a difference. That takes away that three a little bit. That kind of opens up the drive for us on the inside a little bit.”

In the final frame Neelyvile continued to fight and closed the gap to 55-50. However Klaire Essner delivered a dagger for the Lady Bearcats in the form of another three point basket to extend the the lead to 58-50. Dexter finished the game on a 7-4 run to win 65-54.

“Every girl on this team, every girl on that bench played solid minutes for us tonight,” said Sitze. “We got stops down the stretch when we needed to. Just our overall effort all game, offensively, defensively, our body language, just everything was pretty solid tonight.”

For Dexter Nichols finished with a game high 25 points, Lloyd 18, Turnbo 14, Karis Kennedy 5, Avery Ackman and Essner each scored three. For Neelyville Prince had 18, Ernst 16, Layni Dobbin 9, jade Crosswhite 8 and Addison Couch had three.

Dexter, who improved to 8-7 on the season will next be in action when they travel to the Jackson Lady Indian Showcase on Saturday pending the weather. Neelyville dropped to 7-6 on the season is also scheduled to travel to the Jackson Lady Indian Showcase on Saturday.