There were no huge celebrations. No dunking the coach with Gatorade. No jumping in the air and body slamming teammates. Really, no nothing?
The Dexter boys’ basketball team’s reaction to beating state-ranked Ypsilanti, a team that has not only dominated the Dreadnaughts over the years but the entire SEC White Division as well, was more like a giant yawn.
Where was the confetti? Where were the students rushing onto the floor and lifting the victorious Dreadnaughts to the rafters?
Nothing. Really? Nothing?
It would be crazy to assume the Dreadnaughts knew they would not only knock off the visiting Grizzlies on Tuesday night but do it rather, well, easily. They won the game going away 55-47. Dexter Coach Tim Cain even pulled his starters in the final minutes of the game.
Garbage time against Ypsilanti? What planet is this?
“Every win is a big one but this one was special for us,” said a rather calm and collected Cain minutes after Dexter’s fifth straight victory. “Our goal is to win the league. When I came here that was our goal and is still our goal. I think here in year three we have a really legitimate chance.”
After starting out with three straight losses, Dexter has now won five straight including the last two over Chelsea and Ypsilanti. One of the losses was to Lincoln, a team Ypsilanti ran up the score against.
“A legitimate chance” is not anything close to closed deal. There is plenty of work to be done and no one knows that more than Cain.
“We have a very talented Lincoln team, an angry Ypsilanti team we have to play again, and Chelsea is just Chelsea,” Cain said. “Although we are almost half way done and we’re excited that we have this thing rolling in the right direction, we have to take a step back and realize that we need to continue to work hard.”
The Cain stopped. Looked around and admitted with a big smile … “But that was a big one.”
The Dreadnaughts won this game on the defensive end. They kept the high scoring Grizzlies not only in check but frustrated offensively. Ypsilanti managed just 19 points at halftime against Dexter’s often changing defense.
“We can’t play just one defense the whole game,” Cain said. “So we have to mix it up and keep changing until we find something right. We looked at the film and saw that this might work and it was pretty successful.
“We also handled their pressure. They are all about transition pressure and rebounding and we were focused on controlling those three things. If we did, we liked our chances.”
It’s hard not to like their chances moving forward. But as Cain says there is plenty of work still to be done. Maybe when it’s done there will be time to celebrate.
