'My girls play hard:' Cape Central GBB outlasts Dexter in 63-60 overtime thriller

CAPE GIRARDEAU — Cape Central girls’ basketball was close to its efficient best at both ends of the floor through most of the second half, building an eight-point lead over Dexter, ready to cruise to a smooth victory on its home court.

Then the shots stopped falling. So did the free throws. Cape Central committed a couple of costly turnovers. The Lady Bearcats had the home crowd silent with each basket. Then the game went to overtime.

Most teams might have folded under the pressure. The young Lady Tigers kept their poise, pulling out a wild overtime victory near regular season's end.

That's a sure sign of a resilient team.

Jamie Dawson-Ide dropped 22 points, Abby Davenport and Allie Cairns each added 12 apiece and Cape Central held on for a 63-60 win on Thursday night.

“I feel like we started off really well,” Dawson-Ide said. “I feel so positive and so grateful that we have a coach like Coach Sommer. Without her, I believe that we wouldn’t be where we are.”

After trailing in the early stages of overtime, senior Nalaiya Furlow’s bucket-and-foul with 29.5 seconds left handed the Lady Tigers (9-11) a 61-60 lead before Dawson-Ide sealed it with a pair of made free throws in the closing seconds.

Mauriona Menley had a game-high 26 points and Kate Nichols added 21 to lead the Lady Bearcats (9-11), who had won four of their last five entering the night.

“My girls play hard,” head coach Sommer McCauley-Perdue said. “They play hard. They hustle. They made mistakes, but they wanted it. They realized that when we went into overtime and they had to push a little bit more and give a little bit of themselves to the game. And they definitely did that.”

The Lady Tigers quickly found themselves down 11-5 before an abrupt surge sparked a 12-5 run that was capped by a Cairns 3-pointer at the end of the opening quarter. Davenport nailed a 3-pointer of her own from the corner as Cape Central had a narrow 26-23 lead to sit on at halftime.

The second half belonged to Dawson-Ide, who repeatedly scored on pick-and-rolls and smooth drives to the basket.

“My teammates had helped me with my emotions,” she said. “I’m a very emotional person. I feel like if they didn't lift me, then I wouldn’t be as positive or where I am now today.”

Perdue called Dawson-Ide’s work ethic “awesome.”

“Jamie is a special kid,” Perdue said. “A lot of times she is her own worst enemy, but I know that I can trust that she's going to play hard. Most of the girls are like that. Everybody on the team, they just told themselves today that they were going to go hard, finish, and win.”

The Lady Tigers led by a point entering the fourth quarter as Dexter continued to hang tough.

Davenport, who had a game-high four 3-pointers, nailed a pair of 3s during a big 7-1 run that pushed Cape Central ahead 52-46 with 3:50 left. Menley then helped forge a late Lady Bearcat comeback after scoring a game-tying driving layup with less than a minute left, quieting the home crowd.

Dawson-Ide had a chance to win it after drawing a foul with 1.6 seconds left, but missed both free throws to send the game to overtime.

Dexter came out on fire to open the extra period, as Menley and Nichols hit three straight layups to give the Lady Bearcats a 58-54 advantage. That’s until Furlow and Dawson-Ide stepped up and put the finishing touches on a 9-2 run to close out the victory.

“I came into this year as a last-minute hire,” Perdue said. “I came into this knowing what this was going to be. We had a young team, and this year is really just rebuilding and changing the culture of wanting success and winning. I've been feeding that into them and the girls are getting it. I know this year is seeping in, and then next year I’ve got a really good group coming up from junior high. It's going to all make sense next year.”

Dawson-Ide agreed.

“I believe our future is looking real good,” she said. “It’s going to be great. Big things ahead.”

Cape Central returns to its home court on Senior Night against Woodland (12-9) on Monday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. Dexter will look to bounce back when the Lady Bearcats take on Bloomfield (15-7) tomorrow night, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m.