Lady Bearcats pull off come-from-behind win to beat Jackson

Friday, December 5, 2014

FARMINGTON -- Dexter junior point guard Dakota Reynolds has a knack for protecting the ball until she is fouled late in close game and then delivering at the free throw line.

Such a display took place in the final two minutes of regulation in third-seeded Dexter's game against the second-seeded Jackson Indians Thursday night in a semifinal of the Farmington Invitational. Reynolds drained a 3-pointer to break a 48-48 tie with 1:41 remaining and made six of six free throws after to seal a come-from-behind 57-48 victory against Jackson.

"She came up big for us at the end," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "She hit that big three and once we got that lead we could just give her the ball because she can play cat and mouse at the end and try to make them foul her. She got to the free throw line and knocked down her free throws and helped us extend the lead."

A close finish looked unlikely in the first minute of the fourth quarter when Jackson scored its final basket with about seven minutes remaining to build its largest lead of the game at 48-35.

The Bearcats followed with a 22-0 run to end the game.

"I think we wore them down," Allen said of the comeback. "We were down the whole game basically. Early on they were hitting a lot of 3's. They got up 10 or 12 and then we would come right back, then they would go up 10 or 12 again, and we would come right back. I thought we wore them down and they couldn't hit their perimeter shots late. That's when we made our big run and it was great for the girls to hang around and pull this one out."

Jackson opened the game on fire from the perimeter hitting five of its nine treys in the first quarter. The Indians led 21-10 in the final minute of the first quarter and 31-19 with four minutes left in the first half.

Dexter got as close as 37-33 in the third quarter. Jackson followed with a 7-0 run to pad its advantage to 44-33 by the start of the fourth period.

Allen said he switched offenses in the second half in an effort to get the ball in the paint more frequently.

"We talked about it at halftime," Allen said. "We weren't getting any kind of post play at all. We went into a three-out two-in and tried to pound the ball inside. I thought that set the tone in the second half trying to get the ball inside, and also looking to get more dribble penetration. I think those two things really helped in the second half."

Melanie McKuin paced Dexter's offense with a team-high 22 points. Reynolds also finished in double digits with 15 points.

Cassidi Tomsu paced Jackson with 16 points. Rachel Crites tallied 11 points and Kayla Keith added nine more.

Hannah Thurmon tallied a team-high 10 rebounds for the Bearcats. Reynolds had half of her team's six assists.

Dexter made 17 of 48 shots and Jackson hit 18 of 46 shots.

The Bearcats made 20 of 27 free throws and Jackson was four of nine from the charity strip.

Dexter squares off against top-seeded Saxony Lutheran Friday at 8 p.m. in the title game at Farmington High School.

Saxony Lutheran beat fifth-seeded Miller Career Academy 51-28 in the other semifinal Thursday.

"Saxony has a lot of experience," Allen said. "Most of their girls are juniors, if not almost all of them, but they played on the varsity as freshmen and sophomores so they've got a lot of experience and size. They are strong and it's definitely going to be a tough game for us. Hopefully, we'll do a better job on the boards Friday night and be more active. That's the two things I thought that hurt us tonight -- we weren't very active and we didn't rebound very well."

Dexter1312824--57
Jackson2112114--48

DEXTER (57) -- Dakota Reynolds 15, Melanie McKuin 22, Hannah Thurmon 8, Krysten Garrison 2, Harley Allen 2, Karaline Keirsey 8. FG 17, FT 20/27, F 16. (3-pointers: Reynolds 3. Fouled out: none)

JACKSON (48) -- Cassidi Tomsu 16, Rachel Crites 11, Autumn Reid 7, Rylee Strafford 5, Kayla Keith 9. FG 18, FT 4/9, F 21. (3-pointers: Tomsu 1, Crites 3, Reid 1, Strafford 1, Keith 2. Fouled out: none)

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