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By MIKE JOSEPH
Traveler Correspondent

DEXTER ‹ Jessica Tuck converted two free-throws with 3.2-seconds left in regulation, securing the regional championship for the St Paul Lady Indians with a hard-fought 60-58 win over the Dexter Fighting Lady Cardinals on Saturday night.

After Krissy Kill tied the game at 58 on a nice dish from Camille Kahrs with 49.2 seconds left, the Indians decided to hold the ball for the final shot. Taking a timeout with 12 seconds left, St Paul coach Doug Tuck drew up the strategy for the final shot.

Jessica Tuck, who had burned the Cardinals earlier with a long-range three pointer, used a ball fake at the top of the key with time running down. Tuck drove into the lane and was fouled by Kahrs on the final shot attempt.

Dexter still had time to get off a shot. After a Dexter timeout, Allie Crow¹s three-quarter court pass was deflected out of bounds by the Indians. With 2.7 seconds left, Kill took the inbound pass on the left wing. Her three-point attempt fell short with the final horn ending the contest.

In a see-saw battle featuring the top two seeds in the regional, St Paul jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead midway through the first period. Dexter trailed 16-8 with 1:19 remaining before going on a 7-0 run to end the period. Alexis Hafenstein drilled a three-pointer from the right wing to start the rally. On the next Indian possession, Hafenstein stole a pass and fed Kill for a layup pulling the Cardinals within three at 16-13. Amanda Defore¹s post move and basket with less than five seconds remaining finished the comeback as Dexter trailed 16-15 heading into the second period.

St Paul extended its lead to 24-18 midway through the second period, highlighted by a three-pointer by Tuck. Dexter cranked up the defensive intensity at that point and went on a 12-3 run to end the half leading 30-27. After Kahrs scored a couple buckets sandwiched around a Crow baseline jumper to tie the score at 24, Kill gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night on a 15-foot jumper with 2:53 remaining.

Dexter maintained its three-point lead heading into the final period up 44-41, and extended the lead to 50-43 with 5:53 left in regulation. After Kahrs picked up her fourth foul, the Indians rallied with a 6-0 run to trail by one, 50-49. Morgan Westhoff¹s three pointer and an offensive rebound and putback by Kennedee Borum spurred the comeback.

Madi Borum, who came off the bench, was virtually unstoppable down the stretch for St Paul. With the Indians trailing 54-50, Borum drained two free throws after being fouled by Crow. After a Dexter turnover on a three-second lane violation, Borum went inside and tied the game at 54 with 2:21 left. Breah Geifer stole the ball on the next Cardinal possession and found Borum on the baseline. Borum found an opening and drove to the basket and scored on a nice left-handed layup giving the Indians a 56-54 lead. 

After Kahrs scored on a baseline drive of her own to tie the score, Borum, who finished with a game-high 20 points, hit a jump hook over Defore giving St Paul the 58-56 lead with 1:12 left.

³The girls are obviously dissappointed that we couldn¹t win this game,² said Dexter coach Debbie Callison. ³St Paul is a good shooting team.  We showed a lot of patience tonight when we got behind. We knew we could come back if we exectuted.²

Defore led Dexter with 16 points and seven rebounds, to go along with four blocked shots. Hafenstein and Kahrs scored 15 and 14 points respectively for the Cardinals. 

St Paul improves to 21-2 heading into the Class 1A sub-state tournament, where it will face Hutchinson Central Christian (20-3) Friday at 6:00 pm at Emporia. Dexter (20-3) will head to Butler County Community College in El Dorado to face a familiar foe in SCBL champion Argonia (23-0) Friday at 7:30 pm. 

DEXTER   15  15   14   14 ‹ 58
ST PAUL   16  11   14   19 ‹ 60

  Dexter ‹ Defore 16, Hafenstein 15, Kahrs 14, Kill 9, Crow 4.
St Paul ‹ M. Borum 20, Tuck 10, Giefer 10, Westhoff 10, A. O¹Brien 5, K. Borum 3, Beachner 2.3, Beachner 2m 3, Beachner 2 22chner 2state round in Emporia and will meet Goessel Thursday night at 6.