Lady Bearcats stop skid, beat Oran

DEXTER — The Dexter Lady Bearcats have struggled to land a win after losing one of their dominant players to injury. It’s been a rough stretch as they try to recapture the early season success before the district tournament.

With an emphasis on defense, the Lady Bearcats ended their losing skid with a 66-52 win over Oran High.

“This was a big win for us,” Dexter coach Eric Sitze said. “I felt like many girls contributed, and we had a good effort overall. Of course, there are some things we got to work on still, but we needed this one tonight. Oran is a good basketball team, so I’m glad we got the win.”

The Lady Bearcats started the game with a lot of energy. They relied on ball movement to get points inside the paint. Oran was no slouch in this matchup, as the Lady Eagles stayed in close proximity by knocking down open jumpers and making smart plays also.

The game stayed close throughout the first half, with both teams hustling on both ends to gain the upper hand. Oran’s guard Taylor Hobbs finally gave her team the lead by knocking down a 3-pointer before halftime, giving the Lady Eagles a 33-32 lead.

Stepping into the third, the Lady Bearcats begin to build momentum on the defensive end, turning steals into easy transitional baskets. Although the Lady Bearcats lost size inside the post, many players still make big shots in the paint.

Besides the intensity on defense, second-chance shots worked in the Lady Bearcats’ favor, as most of their points in the third quarter came from battling for the offensive rebound.

The last three minutes of the contest turned into a shot-for-shot matchup, and Oran stayed within arms reach of taking the game back with consistent trips to the free-throw line. Despite the solid run from Oran, Dexter’s Allison Turnbo, who finished with 14 points, sealed the fate of the Lady Eagles with a dagger from three to secure the victory.

After losing their second-leading scorer, the Lady Bearcats needed a boost on the offensive end, and sophomore guard Kate Nichols saw the opportunity to step up by dropping 25 points.

“We definitely needed this win before going into districts,” Nichols said. “This will give us a good boost of confidence since losing one of our premier players.”

Nichols said the game plan as they approach the district tournament is to focus on defense and to keep playing hard.

Allison Turnbo chipped in with 12 points, while Maddie Glaus added seven.

Sitze said the past few games have been tough trying to polish the team’s game after losing a major part of their game plan but noticed his team has been going the extra mile to keep the flow going.

“It’s a big adjustment. We’ve lost our second-leading scorer, best rebounder and a really good interior defender, so we’re trying to adjust,” Sitze said. “We have people playing off the bench that didn’t play most of the year. But they’re starting to understand it and get better. It’s just going to take us some games, and fortunately, we got three more left to get better.”