Web posted
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dexter boys roll to finals past Cedar Vale
By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent
DEXTER - Months of hard work, patience and practice paid off as the Dexter Fighting Cardinals advanced to the Class 1-A regional finals with a 55-49 win over the Cedar Vale Broncos Friday night.
Dexter jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead midway through the first period. Freshman Bradley Berkley scored five points in the opening run, including a basket from beyond the arc. Sophomore Asa Muntz also added a three pointer for the Cardinals.
Cedar Vale trimmed the lead to 13-7 with 2:23 left in the opening period but Dexter took a 16-7 lead into the second quarter as Berkley scored 11 points in the period. Berkley led the Cardinals with 18-points on the night.
Tyler Marker hit a three with 5:37 remaining in the half, giving the Cardinals a 19-8 advantage. Cedar Vale closed the gap with a 14-4 run to trail 23-22 with less than a minute left before the break. Cody Haden scored 10 of his game high 19 in the period for the Broncos.
"We knew they would make a run," said Dexter coach Dennis Bryant. "We just had to go back and refocus on defense and control the tempo."
Dexter came out on fire in the third quarter. A 12-2 run with 4:59 remaining gave the Cardinals a 37-25 lead. Junior Garret Pudden keyed the run with five points inside for Dexter. Pudden scored 10 points in the game after being held to a single point in the first half.
"Garret got a bloody nose early in the game and had to come out," said Bryant. "A few minutes later he was telling me to get him back in. We love that about our guys. They want to get back in there and battle."
Leading 38-28, heading into the final period, the Cardinals braced for another Cedar Vale run. After a three-point play by Tucker Mills cut the Dexter lead to 40-33, Logan Snyder connected on a 15-foot jumper pulling the Broncos within six at 41-35 with 5:18 left on the clock.
Berkley put Dexter back up nine at 44-35 on a free-throw and an easy bucket off an inbound pass. Haden answered with a three-point-play after being fouled by Eric Pappan with 3:19 left.
With the score 52-44, Snyder fouled Muntz with 27-seconds left. Muntz picked up a technical foul, saying something to Snyder after the foul. Muntz hit both free-throws, but Snyder connected on both technical foul shots.
Trailing 55-46, Mills drained a three-pointer for Cedar Vale with 1.3 second left to close out the scoring.
"The guys played their hearts out tonight," said a jubilant coach Bryant. "We played with a lot of pride and poise tonight."
Dexter advances to the regional finals tonight as well as qualifying for the Sub-state tourney next week.
DEXTER - 16 9 13 17- 55
CEDAR VALE - 7 16 5 21- 49
Dexter - Berkley 18, Pudden 10, Muntz 9, Marker 8, B. Pappan 6, E. Pappan 4
Cedar Vale- Haden 19, Mills 14, Fulsom 6, Snyder 6, Rose 4
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