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By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent

DEXTER -- Despite a furious fourth quarter rally, the Dexter Lady Fightin' Cardinals couldn't overcome foul trouble and turnovers as the Argonia Lady Raiders won going away 68-48 Friday night.

Trailing 53-39 after three periods, the Cardinals pulled to within seven at 54-47 with 2:30 left in the contest. But with three starters, seniors Krissy Kill, Camille Kahrs and Allie Crow fouling out, Dexter was left without three of its main offensive weapons. Freshman Alexis Hafenstein scored five of her team-high 13 points in the final period, but it was not enough to overcome a deeper, more experienced Lady Raider bench.

The Cardinals got out of the gates quickly, leading 4-2 a minute and a half in, but the Raiders pulled even at 8-8 with 2:46 remaining. Argonia held the Cardinals to one field goal in the quarter, and led 12-9 heading into the second period.

Both teams were saddled with foul trouble early as Dexter was in the double bonus before the end of the first period. The Cardinals missed three front-ends of the one-and-one in the quarter, going seven of eleven for the period.

Crow picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and went to the bench with Dexter trailing 12-11. Kahrs picked up the slack, getting a three-point-play, giving the Cardinals a 14-13 lead at the 7:02 mark.

Kill picked up her third foul with just less than five minutes remaining with Argonia holding a slim 19-17 lead. Kahrs picked up her third at the 2:53 mark. Less than a minute later, she was whistled for her fourth and sent to the bench. With all three starters on the bench, the Raiders went on a 14-5 run to lead 33-22 at the half.

Dexter trimmed the lead to eight, 37-29, as Kill hit one of the Cardinals three-point shots on the night. But she picked up her fourth foul on the next Raider possession. Argonia pushed the lead to 47-33, cashing in on six Dexter turnovers and four steals.

Argonia (9-0) did most of their damage inside as senior Hannah Hemberger scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the first half. Sophomore Davi Peetom scored 12 of her 16 in the second half as the Cardinals had no answer inside.

"We gave them way too many second chances by not rebounding well," said Dexter coach Debbie Callison. "We gave them way too many inside shots. Hemberger was able to post up on us and pretty much do whatever she wanted."

Poor foul shooting hurt the Cardinals as they were only able to convert 18-of-40 from the free throw line, while Argonia cashed in 16-of-27. Dexter (9-1) turned the ball over 19 times and only had two steals on the night.

"The free-throws hurt us tonight, but even more than that, we continually got beat out of our full court press," said Callison. "I know we can play better than that. We will have a couple of hard practices and get ready for the tournament next week."

Dexter will open the SCBL tournament at home on Monday against the winner of the play-in-game between Cedar Vale and West Elk.

ARGONIA 12 21 20 15--68
DEXTER 9 13 17 9--48

Argonia -- Hemberger 21, D. Peetom 16, Boatright 12, Brewster 8, Stansbury 5, T. Peetom 4, Adams 2.
Dexter -- Hafenstein 13, Kahrs 10, Crow 9, Defore 8, Kill 5, Fanning 2, Engle 1.