C4D1 boys: Bearcats will face Notre Dame for title after Bulldogs stun Dons

DEXTER — The hope for many local basketball fans was for a potential Class 4 District 1 championship rematch of the hard-fought Bloomfield Christmas Tournament final between the Dexter Bearcats and Doniphan Dons.

However, third-seeded Notre Dame had other ideas.

The Bulldogs upset No. 2 Doniphan 66-55 in Wednesday’s late Class 4 District 1 semifinal and will play top seed Dexter at 6 p.m. on Friday for the district title at the Bearcat Event Center. The host Bearcats beat No. 5 Fredericktown 52-41 in Wednesday’s early semifinal.

Dexter was led by Cole Nichols and Truman Krapf, who finished with 27 and 18 points, respectively.

Krapf broke the schools career 3-point makes record previously held by Ethan Flowers.

“(The record) means a lot, I put a lot of hours in the gym shooting, and I think my teammates and coaches,” Krapf said. “This time of year is survive and advance, and this win means a lot. We have seven seniors, so we know our next loss is our career. This is it.“

Dexter coach Chad Allen was pleased with his team in its playoff opener,

“When it comes to playoff time, it’s all about getting stops, and I thought we did a really good job defensively tonight,” Allen said. “We didn’t handle the zone very well in the beginning but once we settled down, I thought we did a good job. When it comes to playoff time, you are going to see a whole different bunch of things.

“It’s good to get out here and get us a game here in the playoffs, and I thought we were a little rusty to start off with, but when we got going, I thought we did a much better job.“

The Blackcats used a zone successfully early on to stop the Dexter scoring express and it worked well early, as they used two triples of their own to lead 10-9 after the first eight minutes.

Dexter took its first lead on the initial possession of the second quarter on a patented Nichols drive.

That began a momentum shift that included a deluge of Nichols makes and a Krapf triple to lead 20-14 only minutes later.

Dexter headed to the break up 24-16.

The second half started the same way the last one ended and the Bearcats began to pull away.

But Fredericktown discovered some treys in its arsenal to keep it close after three quarters, trailing 35-28 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.

Dexter continued to have the right answers to every Fredericktown challenge as it ballooned its edge to 13 points and the Bearcats coasted to the finish line.

In Wednesday’s nightcap, Doniphan overcame a slow start and made things interesting, but the Dons were ultimately undone by superior board work and a number of pivotal 3-pointers as Notre Dame earn the upset.

Notre Dame was all zone and scrap early as the Dons got plenty of easy looks, but couldn’t finish.

Ultimately, Notre Dame used some transition scores and better finishing to lead 12-4 just over four minutes into the contest.

The Bulldogs led 17-10 after eight minutes of play.

The one thing that hurt Doniphan all night early on defensive rebounds was the Bulldogs got multiple possessions where they had two and three opportunities to score.

However the Dons also know how to be scrappy and they pulled within three points, 20-17, five minutes before intermission.

One thing that helped Notre Dame’s cause was the extra height the Bulldogs have inside with Brock Clippard and Will Morgan, both standing 6-4 or better. The Bulldog guards were also longer height wise and that made Dons possessions an exercise in patience.

Notre Dame ran into its locker room with a 28-26 halftime lead, but the Dons started to figure things out.

Scoring dried up big time after the intermission, but a basket by Isaac Rawlings gave the Dons a 34-33 lead with four minutes gone in the third quarter.

However, consecutive trifectas by the Bulldogs pushed them back up 39-34 as the fourth quarter beckoned.

Reece Callow hit a three-ball to put Notre Dame up eight points and the Bulldogs led 47-38 with one last period of regulation left to go.

Doniphan scored the first five points of the final quarter, including a Kam Barton 3, to make it 47-43 early on.

However, the Bulldogs answered with a decisive 10-2 run over two minutes and led 57-45 with 4:24 left — a deficit too big for the Dons to climb back from.

Doniphan was led by 18 points from Kam Barton, while Emmitt Jones added 14 and Max Owen had 12.

Notre Dame was paced by Greg Dennis with 14 points, while Kolton Johnson and Reece Callow each scored 12 and Will Thurston finished with 10.

The winner of Friday’s game will face either Park Hills Central or Potosi in the sectional round Monday at the Farmington Civic Center. Tipoff there is set for 6 p.m.