Web posted
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Kahrs, Dexter rebound from first loss
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Photo by David Wolman
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By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
DEXTER -- When things became a little too close for comfort late in the third and in the fourth quarter, Dexter turned up the pressure with its bread-and-butter: its base press defense.
The Fighting Cardinals forced nine turnovers in the final 8:35 as top-seeded Dexter rebounded from its first loss of the season with a 51-35 win over eighth-seeded Cedar Vale in the quarterfinals of the South Central Border League Tournament on Monday evening.
"The press creates some movement for us and it gets us going," Dexter coach Debbie Callison said. "We tried to capitalize on what little lead we had."
Dexter's lead was never in doubt, as it led throughout.
Their press helped the Fighting Cardinals to jump out to a quick 8-0 lead. Leah Lawrence opened the scoring with two jumpers. Kahrs followed with two jumpers of her own. Lawrence finished with eight points and four rebounds.
But Cedar Vale's tandem of Dana Burdette and Sarah Massey got the Fillies into the game. Massey buried a three-pointer to get the Fillies on the board and Burdette hit a bucket less than 1/2 a minute later to cut Dexter's lead to 8-5.
Massey scored eight points in the first half, but finished with 14. Burdette scored six in the first half, but finished with 9.
"We stepped up our defense a little bit, putting a hand in their face," Callison said. "I think that helped."
Both teams battled through a tightly-officiated contest in the first half. Cedar Vale sophomore Erin Champlin was relegated to the bench after collecting her third personal with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter. Dexter was called for its seventh team foul just over two minutes into the second quarter.
The Fighting Cardinals pushed their lead back to nine points after Allie Crow converted on a nice dish from Krissy Kill. Crow nearly finished with a double-double, recording nine points and nine rebounds.
The teams traded runs to end the half, with Massey and Burdette hitting back-to-back baskets to cut Dexter's lead to 30-20 at the intermission.
Cedar Vale's poor free-throw shooting prevented them from getting any closer. It went 5-of-13 at the foul line in the first half, compared to 7 of 8 for Dexter. The Filies finished 12 of 25, while the Fighting Cardinals went cold in the second half to finish 12 of 25.
"Games are won at the line," Callison said.
Champlin brought Cedar Vale to within 45-33 after making a pair of free throws midway through the fourth quarter. But Dexter's defense took control from there.
"They're a pretty good team and they can come back," Callison said. "They have some good shooters and I just wanted to make sure they didn't come back."
Dexter forced Cedar Vale into committing 21 turnovers. The Fighting Cardinals had 18.
Dexter's transition game benefited from Cedar Vale's turnovers.
Kill recorded a steal and converted a basket at the other end for a 14-point lead after three quarters. Kahrs then attacked the baseline for two important layups early in the fourth.
"I think that's where our game is and in transition," Callison said. "Transition is important. It's all about hitting those outlets and looking down the courts. And we capitalized on that. It pays off in big dividends."
Kahrs scored nine of her game-high 15 points in the second half.
Brittany Engle converted a layup off a terrific bounce pass through traffic by Alexis Hafenstein to close out the game.
The Fighting Cardinals improved to 10-1 and will face Caldwell in the semifinals of the winners' bracket Thursday at 7 p.m. at W.S. Scott Auditorium. Cedar Vale fell to 4-7 and will face Udall at 4 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals of the consolation bracket, also at W.S. Scott Auditorium.
Cedar Vale 8 12 7 8 -- 35
Dexter 13 17 11 10 -- 51
Cedar Vale -- Massey 14, Burdette 9, Warburton 5, Smart 3, Wickham 2, Champlin 2.
Dexter -- Kahrs 15, Crow 9, Lawrence 8, Hafenstein 7, Kill 6, Defore 4, Engle 2.
Girls JV -- Dexter 22, Cedar Vale 4: Dexter limited Cedar Vale to two field goals in an abbreviated, two-quarter game. Amber Defore led Dexter with nine points. Abby Crow added five points, seven rebounds and one block for the Fighting Cardinals.
Amanda Bryant scored all four points for Cedar Vale, which trailed 10-2 after the first quarter. Dexter scored the final 10 points of the game.
Above: Dexter senior Camille Kahrs shoots a jump shot during the quarterfinals of the South Central Border League Tournament on Monday evening.
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