Web posted
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dexter girls get on board to region final
By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent
DEXTER - At halftime, Dexter coach Debbie Callison told her players that they were standing around too much and getting beat on the boards. The Fighting Lady Cardinals took the message to heart in the second half as they dominated the glass on their way to a 63-49 regional semi-final win over the Altoona-Midway Lady Jets Friday night.
Dexter will host the regional final today at 6 p.m. against St. Paul.
With Dexter clinging to a slim 25-24 lead heading into the third quarter, the Jets were able to stay close, trailing 34-30 midway through the period. Dexter senior Camille Kahrs picked up her fourth foul and headed to the bench with 3:57 left. Krissy Kill hit a three-pointer on the next Dexter possession, giving the Cardinals their largest lead of the game, 37-31. Kaylee Leck answered with a three for Altoona-Midway, closing the gap to 37-34.
Freshman Alexis Hafenstein led a 6-0 Dexter run giving the Cardinals a 43-34 lead heading into the final period. Hafenstein scored eight points in the quarter.
The Jets trimmed the lead to 45-38, two minutes into the fourth quarter before Dexter went on another 6-0 run, taking a double-digit lead, 51-38 with 4:25 remaining highlighted by a Kill eight-foot floater in the lane.
Kahrs gave the Cardinals a 61-46 lead, hitting back-to-back baskets with less than three minutes remaining. Kahrs scored nine of her 14 points in the period before fouling out with 37-seconds left in the contest.
Dexter took an early 3-1 lead before Brooke Sloan drained a three-pointer giving the Jets a 4-3 lead. Both teams traded leads throughout the quarter. Leah Lawrence gave the Cardinals a 12-9 lead with a three-pointer from the left wing with 14-seconds left in the period.
Kahrs picked up her third foul two minutes into the second quarter and was relegated to the bench with Dexter holding a slim 12-11 lead. Altoona-Midway tied the score at 16 on an offensive rebound and putback by Leck.
Dexter trailed 24-22 before Kill sank a three-pointer with eight-seconds left in the half givin the Cardinals the 25-24 halftime lead.
Following the game, Callison noted that rebounding was the key to Dexter advancing to the regional finals Saturday night. "Rebounding is crucial. We weren't moving and getting good position in the first half," said Callison. "I thought we were much more active in the second half blocking out."
Amanda Defore collected a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Dexter. Hafenstein led all scorers with 20 points while grabbing nine boards for the Cardinals.
"Alexis (Hafenstein) was great tonight," said Callison. "She asserted herself on both ends of the court. One area we need to work on is our free-throw shooting. We shoot well in practice. But tonight I don't know if we were rattled." Dexter converted 12-of-29 from the line while the Jets were 7-of-13 from the stripe.
Dexter (20-2) not only advanced to the regional finals, but also qualified for the sub-state tournament next week as the top two teams advance.
Sloan and Tara Mosberg led the Jets with 15 and 13 points respectively.
ALTOONA-MIDWAY- 9 15 10 15--49
DEXTER - 12 13 18 20--63
Altoona-Midway- Sloan 15, Mosberg 13, Leck 8, Powers 5, Hull 4, Gatlin 4
Dexter- Hafenstein 20, Kahrs 14, Defore 10, Kill 10, Crow 6, Lawrence 3
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