Web posted
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Dexter girls ride defense to latest win
By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent
DEXTER -- On a night when the offense wasn't clicking, the Dexter Fightin' Lady Cardinals had to rely on defense in a hard fought 45-36 win over the Central-Burden Lady Raiders Tuesday night.
Foul troubles mounted for the Lady Cardinals as senior Allie Crow picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter and was relegated to the bench with
Dexter holding a slim 13-10 lead. Senior Amanda Defore picked up her third foul two minutes into the third period with the Cardinals leading 21-18. Defore would not return until late in the quarter.
Central stayed close throughout, trailing 17-16 at the half and 30-27 heading into the final period. Ashley Wham pulled the Lady Raiders even at 31 on a driving basket at the 5:30 mark in the fourth quarter.
Junior Tanessa McClure's jumper from the left baseline gave Dexter the lead at 33-31. Senior Krissy Kill picked up her third and fourth fouls on the next two Central possessions, but Wham and Shawnell Shepard missed all four foul shots.
With 3:47 remaining, Wham fouled Defore, sending the senior to the line. Defore missed the front end of the one-and-one, but freshman Alexis Hafenstein moved inside for the offensive rebound and putback extending the lead to 35-31.
Wham pulled the Raiders even on the next two possessions, hitting two free throws after being fouled by Hafenstein, and slipping inside for an easy basket with 3:03 left in the contest.
Kill hit an open three-pointer, her second of the night, from the right wing giving the Cardinals a 38-35 lead. Senior Camille Kahrs tipped a pass away on the next Raider possession leading to a Hafenstein layup on the fast break, prompting Central coach Shane Walter to call timeout.
On the ensuing out of bounds play, Crow fouled out sending Wham to the line with Central trailing 40-35 with just under two minutes to play. Wham, who hit 10 of 14 from the line on the night, came up empty on her two attempts.
With the lead, Dexter looked to slow the game down. Kill found Kahrs with a nifty pass on a backdoor play with Kahrs scoring the easy layup putting the Cardinals up seven with 1:47 left. After a missed three by Central, Defore was fouled and put the game away converting both free-throws for a 44-35 lead with just over a minute to play.
In the first half, the Cardinals couldn't seem to get untracked, missing several easy shots inside while the struggled from the perimeter.
"Central played very good defense on us," said Dexter coach Debbie Callison. "But as good as their defense was, we were just off tonight. This is probably the worst shooting night we have had this year. We just told the girls to keep their heads. We preach that this is a mental game."
As much as Dexter struggled from the field, the Raiders were not able to take advantage of the foul disparity, shooting only 11 of 29 free throws for the game. Dexter managed 11 of 18 from the line. The Cardinals uncharacteristic ally turned the ball over 20 times, but were able to garner 13 steals on the night.
Defore led the Cardinals with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Hafenstein added 10 for Dexter. Wham led all scorers with 24 points, while Misty Teague hauled down 10 boards for Central (3-5).
It will be a battle of unbeatens Friday night as Dexter (9-0) will host Argonia (8-0).
CENTRAL-BURDEN 8 8 11 9 --36
DEXTER 8 9 13 15 --45
Central -- Wham 24, Teague 4, Shepard 4, O'Bryan 4.
Dexter -- Defore 13, Hafenstein 10, Kill 9, Kahrs 6, McClure 2, Crow 2, Fanning 2, Lawrence 1.
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