Dexter, Bell City advance

BLOOMFIELD - The Stoddard County Conference Tournament got underway on Monday at Bloomfield High School.

Top-seeded Dexter rolled past No. 8 Bernie 68-14 while No. 2 Bell City whipped No. 7 Puxico 73-38.

Dexter (12-4) will play on Thursday against the winner of No. 4 Advance and No. 5 Woodland. Bell City will play on Thursday against the winner of No. 3 Bloomfield and No. 6 Richland.

On Monday, Dexter jumped out to a 27-3 first quarter lead and pulled away from there.

They led 44-8 at the half and 59-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

"They've had some unfortunate accidents over there," said Dexter head coach Eric Sitze of Bernie. "They're playing with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. They're struggling with bodies in general."

Dexter got 20 points out of senior guard Josh Miller. Senior center Derek Demaree had 12 points.

"We had a lot of contributions from everybody tonight," said Sitze. "We shot the ball pretty well tonight. Just about everybody got in the scoring column."

Bernie was led by Britt Arnold's seven points.

Leading 38-25 at the half, Bell City exploded in the second quarter and put the game away with a 22-8 run.

Senior guard Dominitrix Johnson led the way with 29 points. Blaine Stewart added 14 points and Jeffrey Liggins had 10 points.

VARSITY GIRLS

DELTA -- Delta point guard Ashley Elliott made her return to the lineup on Monday, scoring five points in a 68-32 win over Malden.

"We are glad to have her back," said Delta coach Randy White. "She really adds to our floor game. We stayed under control and moved the ball much better tonight."

Elliott sat out all of last week with the flu. Delta outscored Malden 17-7 in the first quarter, 15-8 in the second, 15-11 in the third, then 21-6 in the fourth.

Kaci Menz led the charge with 24 points, followed by Shea Smith with 15. For Malden, Stacy Kirkwood and Danitra Moncrief each scored nine.

Delta (12-3) will travel to Chaffee on Thursday.

BENTON -- Kelly's girls basketball team improved to 10-5 with a 60-53 win over Delta on Saturday.

Kelly Essner led the way with 19 points, followed by Jessica Burnett with 10 and Mindy Robert with nine.

"The girls came out, played hard and played as a team," said Kelly coach Rod McQuerter. "Delta has a very good basketball team, and I'm just proud with how our girls played."

For Delta, Shea Smith scored 17, Kaci Menz had 15 and Beck Rosmurskey added 10. Kelly (10-5) will host Dexter on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

9TH GRADE BOYS

NEW MADRID -- Julian Beard scored 11 points and Tarryl Booker added 10 as Sikeston's ninth grade basketball team defeated New Madrid County Central 43-38 on Monday night.

"We came out a little sluggish, but the guys kept working hard and found a way to win," said Sikeston coach Chris Sarakas. "That's all I can ask for."

For NMCC, Cole and Davis led the way with 13 points each. Sikeston (6-6) will travel to Notre Dame on Wednesday at 6 p.m.