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By A Big Time Bernie Mules Fan!

Bell City, Missouri - The Bernie Mules continued their winning ways last night as they took on Bell City High School.  With a 2012-13 season record of 7 - 0, the Mules dominated the contest to defeat the Cubs by a score of 87 to 32. 

“We are starting to improve in some areas," commented Mules Head Coach, Brad Botsch.

David Baker led the scoring surge by the Mules with 9-points in the first quarter.  Troy Kirkpatrick had a hot hand at the charity strip, sinking all three of his free throws and one field goal in the opening quarter.  Both Sam Turner and Jake Wagner added a three-pointer each to give the Mules a 26 to 12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Joey Walker took the scoring lead for the team in the 2nd quarter with 7-points.  The Mules delivered a balanced scoring run throughout the quarter, while their defense tightened on Bell City.  Bell City was only able to find 7-points of their own during the 2nd quarter, making the halftime score 49 to 19.

The second half was much the same offensive attack by the Mules as the added an additional 28-points.  The Cubs were just unable to deal with the quickness and aggressive defense offered during the contest.  B. J. Jennings put on his three-point shooting hand in the third quarter posting 9-points in his three made baskets. 

"We have been repetitively drilling decision making fundamentals in practice, and I felt it carried over into our play tonight," said Coach Botsch.  "Our kids are working very hard, and if they’ll remain coachable, I think we’ll continue to improve."

Overall, the Bernie Mules were very evenly spread across the team offensively.  David Baker was the leading scorer with 15-points, followed by teammates Troy Kirkpatrick (14-points) and Joey Walker (11-points).  B. J. Jennings added his 9-points from 3-point land in the third quarter, while Jake Wagner, David Baker, Sam Turner and J. R. Pregel each had strong nights on the scoreboard with 8 and/or 7-points each

"We have so many kids that can contribute, and it’s nice to have that many competitive kids at our disposal," added Botsch.

The Junior Varsity team defeated Bell City by a score of 64 to 42.  Bernie Mules Ellenburg highlighted the night with a season high of 40-points during the contest, followed by Sparks with 15-points.

Bernie will be back in action against the Twin Rivers Royals next Tuesday at Twin Rivers High School. 

Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Bearcats were able to capture their first win of the 2012-13 basketball season Friday night as they defeated the Richland Rebels at home by a score of 73 to 40. 

After struggling offensively in the opening games this year against the strong opponents of Charleston (27-70), Sikeston (23-55) and Jackson (23-55), the Bearcats were able to find strong performances by senior Chase Young and junior D. J. Dowdy to combine for 43-points.  Young was the leading scorer on the night with 22-points and Dowdy followed with 21-points.

As an injured and young team, the 'Cats have faced this season by putting together the pieces of a frazzled puzzle.  Tonight was a well deserved victory for their hard work and hope that the season will improve as they move forward.

Not only were the 'Cats facing a hustling Richland Rebels team, but the Rebels are anchored by a 6' 11" center, Richard Forshee.  Forshee was a powerful postman around the basket most of the night, but the Bearcats were able to battle the size with aggressive athleticism.

The Bearcats jumped out to a 14 to 11 first quarter lead.  The 'Cats broadened their lead to eleven points by scoring 25-points in the second quarter, compared to only 17-points by the Rebels.  Chase Young added 5 of 6 free throws attempted to help his team.

Still in reach of the Bearcats, the second half was expected to be a true battle.  But halftime adjustment found Brad Potts and other 'Cats dominating the boards and taking away the inside game of the Rebels.  Richland was only able to post 9-points in the third quarter, allowing the Bearcats to open up a lead of 62 to 37 prior to the beginning of the final quarter.

The Bearcats held strong in the fourth quarter as Dexter added an additional 11-points.  The Bearcats eased into their first varsity win on the season defeating the Rebels by final score of 73 to 40. 

Besides Young and Dowdy, Brad Potts delivered 12-points on the night.  Additional points and excellent play was also given by Jordan Miller with 6-points, Ryan Joyner and Austin Aldridge with 4-points and Austin Richards and Nick Noble chipped in 2-points.

The junior varsity was given a different format on the evening with only two quarters being played.  The Bearcats were able to win the contest by a score of 31 to 22.

Leading scorers at the JV level were Blake Horton with 9-points, Chandler Young with 8-points and Austin Chesser with 6-points.  Ethan Flowers added 4-points on the night and Jacob Pedigo and Jacob Murdock each scored 2-points.

The Bearcats will catch a break in the action until the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament begins on December 26th.  Their next regular season game will be against the Woodland Cardinals on January 4th at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.

Dexter, Missouri - The first six games of the season featured great defense by the Dexter Lady Cats, but the offense was lacking at times.  That all changed on Thursday night against the New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles.

The Cats jumped out to an 11-0 lead and really never looked back. Brittany Harris and Paige Patterson, both who had 15 points on the night had 9 of those first 11 points to start the game off right.  After a six point run by New Madrid County Central, the Lady Cats came back with another 11 point run of their own featuring free throws by Patterson and baskets by Erica Cobb, Mollie Whitehead and Hannah Noe.  A free throw by Noe and another basket by Harris gave the Cats a 25-8 first quarter advantage.

The Dexter girls opened up the second quarter with a 3 pointer by Alison Jarrell, a basket by Makayla Waldner and a basket by Harris to open a huge 32-8 lead. From there the Lady Cats outscored the Lady Eagles 16 - 10 to end the quarter with baskets from Cobb (who had 15 on the night) Jarrell (14 points on the night) free throws by Katelynn Frazier (who led the team with 7 assists) and Patterson.  At the half the Cats had a 30 point lead.

It was more of the same in the second half as the outside shooting was showcased.  The Lady Cats made 6 three pointers in the second half as Cobb, Jarrell and Noe each hit from long distance.  Throw in baskets by Whitehead and Frazier and a big fourth quarter by Paige Patterson on the offensive glass and you get a decisive 82-43 victory.

Scoring that happened on Thursday night doesn't just come by itself.  It takes the play of guards who will get the ball to the right player.  Coach Allen mentioned the work of Katelynn Frazier in particular on Thursday night.  "Katelynn has really come on at the point guard spot.  Coach Sitzes and I have really noticed how she has picked up her game recently".

The Lady Cats will be ion action again Saturday as they will open the Twin Rivers Christmas Tournament as the number one seeded team and will take on Malden at 9 Saturday morning.

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( LBB Statistics are not official)

The Richland Rebel Basketball Team has been having a rough season so far after their close loss to the Campbell Camels and to the Bloomfield Wildcats. But their season has finally turned around after their game on Tuesday, December 11^th, against the Marquand-Zion Tigers.

This was a great game for all the players, but it was a remarkable game for senior Richard Forshee (#50) because this was his first game of his final season as a Richland Rebel. Forshee has recently been benched due to torn tendons in his foot that took a couple weeks to officially heal. The Rebels and coaches are glad to have him back on the court. Forshee is building himself back up slowly but surely and scored a total of 10 points during the Marquand-Zion game.

The Rebels started off strong, scoring the first points of the game and holding a fairly large lead over the Tigers during the first quarter. The Tigers had a hard time getting passed the Rebels’ defense and couldn’t seem to hit double digits throughout the first quarter while the Rebels had a total of 35 points.

The second and third quarter were a bit more challenging but the head coach, Matt Cline, told his players to “press” the other team so that defense was continuously harder and harder to push through.  With the new defense technique, the Tigers had even more trouble breaking through the Rebels so that they could score.

Throughout the game, the Rebels sunk a lot of free throws and senior Jesse Barnes, in particular, only missed one out of all of his shots, making him the lead scorer of the night. The Rebels had great defense, and one of the contributors to that was senior Tyler Jacobs. Along with defense, the Rebels also had an impressive offense that included sophomores Skyler Harper and Marcus Grayson, who were both close to the top scoring position.

 At the end of the fourth quarter, the Rebels took a humongous victory over Marquand-Zion High School, by doubling their points. The final score was 82 to 40, allowing the Rebels to make an official come back for this season. Both coaches believe that this could be a real comeback for the Rebels because it showed the players that they really do have what it takes to pull out a large win like they did on Tuesday.

 The fans, coaches, and players are excited about their latest victory and are looking forward to their next game on Friday, December 14^th, against the Dexter Bearcats at the new Bearcat Center.

It was another tough night for the Boys Varsity Bearcat Basketball Team as they fell at home to the Jackson Indians.

The Bearcats went up against Jackson for the first time this season last week as part of the SEMO Conference Tournament. The Bearcats ultimately fell, but came out strong in the fourth quarter in hopes to turn the game around.

Last nights’ game was a little different for the Bearcats as they failed to get their offensive game going. There were little shots that were missed on almost each possession.

With the clock continually running most of the fourth quarter and many players in foul trouble, Jackson posted a 56-24 victory over the Dexter Bearcats in the Bearcat Event Center.

The Bearcats always have a tough schedule at the beginning of the year as they compete against Charleston, Sikeston, and then leap right into the SEMO Conference Tournament the next week to play Sikeston again and then compete against Jackson. The competition is tough for the Bearcats in the beginning, but instead of letting it discourage them they should use it as a tool to help defeat the teams coming up next on their schedule.

The Dexter Bearcats will be back in action as they take on the Richland Rebels Friday night in the Bearcat Event Center. The Junior Varsity will take the court at 6:00 P.M. with Varsity directly following.