Dexter welcomed Pioneer on Friday night for an early season SEC boys’ basketball showdown that certainly didn’t disappoint as the Dreadnaughts overcame a rough start before Pioneer battled back to send the game into overtime.
Dexter outscored Pioneer 9-5 in the extra time to pull off an impressive 55-51 win in the SEC Red Division season opener for both schools.
“It was a real battle,” said Dexter Coach Jason Rushton. “I felt like we played from behind all night long, so a lot of credit to Pioneer and their toughness defensively.”
Dexter came into the game short-handed with some illness (not Covid) and injuries but gutted this one out.
“It feels great to start out 1-0 on the season and in the SEC Red, but we know we have some things to clean up and a lot work to do,” said Rushton.
Pioneer led 14-6 in the first quarter and 26-19 at halftime. The Dreadnaughts cranked up the offense in the third quarter and finished with 19 points to take a 38-36 lead into the fourth quarter. Pioneer outscored Dexter 10-8 to send the game into overtime.
The Dreadnaughts knocked down seven free throws in the overtime to nail down the victory.
Cal Bavineau led Dexter with 19 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. The senior guard also played some great on-ball defense all night long for the Dreads.
Ty Rychener did a great job attacking and knocking down shots and finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Evan Haroldson was big down the stretch and finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Brennan Parachek also came up big for Dexter and had 7 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Josh Turman had 15 points and Will Sanok-Duffalo had 14 points to lead Pioneer. Mohammed Conde had seven points and Josiah Schaafsmo scored five.
