Lady Bearcats survive rugged road game against Kelly

Jerry Jarrell photo Kelly's Carissa Klipfel attempts a pass to teammate Kristen Powell after falling to the floor while Dexter's Erika Mouser steps between the two during action Thursday night at Kelly High School.

BENTON -- Dexter's young Lady Bearcats stood tall against a rugged Kelly Lady Hawks squad, winning a ruff and tumble affair on the road, 51-43, Thursday night.

Abbie Warren scored a game-high 19 points and battled on the boards against a taller Kelly team, while freshman Brittany Frazier added 12 as the Lady 'Cats improved to 13-6 on the season.

Dexter never trailed in the game and outscored Kelly in every quarter, but just barely, while slowly adding to a slim lead each quarter. Dexter jumped out to a 13-10 advantage after one, and increased it to 24-19 at the half. The largest lead of the game came in the third quarter after the Lady 'Cats opened with a 7-0 run and pushed the advantage to 12 points (31-19).

The run seemed to light a fire under the Lady Hawks who quickly picked up their intensity and physical play behind junior Kristen Powell who finished with 18 points. Kelly cut the lead to five 40-35 early in the fourth, but that would be as close as the Lady Hawks would get.

The game featured 36 fouls, 20 by Kelly, which slipped to 12-8 on the year.

"It was a pretty physical game," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "Kelly picked up their intensity a lot the second half. They switched defenses and went to that 1-3-1 and got real aggressive.

"Boy, they made a good run there but our girls held their composure there and finally we got into our offense against that 1-3-1," he continued. "We were patient, got great looks and executed off it and I thought that was the difference in the game."

Kelly cranked up the their defense midway through the fourth quarter with a full court press, trapping the inbounds pass with taller players that gave Dexter's smaller guards some trouble. Allen countered by inbounding to the 5'11" Warren who was able to throw over the double team.

"We did a few things again tonight late in the game that we didn't execute very well, but I think they are picking up more and a more each game," Allen noted. "They kept their composure better tonight and I thought we executed real well there late in the game running our delay game and got on the free throw line and hit our shots."

For Kelly, coach Rod McQuerter said the game was just another step towards his team's main goal right now.

"Whenever Kelly plays Dexter it is always going to be a great game," McQuerter said after the game. "Give coach (Chad) Allen credit, he has a very good team. Like I said our girls are just excited to play them. We enjoy playing teams like Dexter because it helps for districts. And that's our goal right now, we're trying to get ready for districts."

Both Kelly and Dexter will next be in action Monday on the road. The Lady Hawks will be at Poplar Bluff, while the Lady Bearcats will travel to Cape Girardeau for a game against Notre Dame Regional High School.