It was a game the Dexter boys’ basketball team lost in December but it might be the reason the Dreadnaughts win a game in March. Dexter played in the annual Motor City Roundball Classic at Ferndale High School against Flint Carman-Ainsworth on Thursday and played very well at times, not letting the talented Cavaliers run away.
But Flint AC outscored Dexter 21-12 in the fourth quarter for a 60-47 victory that was much closer than the final score.
“We gave it a great run against a very good Flint Carman-Ainsworth team,” said Dexter coach Jason Rushton. “It was definitely a game of runs, and we were right there late in the game, but similar to the Huron game we had a couple of untimely miscues that led to easy points the other way.”
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It was the experience and playing against an elite team that the Dreadnaughts will benefit from when they take on talented teams in the SEC Red. They didn’t win the game but proved to themselves that they have the talent to win these type of games.
“With our young team, we will work to clean these things up and hope to win these games against tough opponents,” Rushton said.
Reeves Taylor led Dexter with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Evan Haroldson played a solid all-around game with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore Ben Murphy came off the bench and shot the ball very well and added 11 points.
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Flint AC’s Chris McLavish scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter. The Cavs had four other players score eight or more points.
The Dreadnaughts started out strong, taking a 7-1 lead on a triple and then a jumper from Taylor. Flint AC took a 11-10 lead on a triple with 2:20 left in the opening quarter – and never trailed again. They led 18-10 after the first quarter.
But Dexter would hang around, thanks in part to Murphy, who scored all nine of Dexter’s second-period points on triples. His third one brought the Dreads to within 20-19. The Cavs would finish off the quarter on a 6-0 run – including a basket at the buzzer – for a 26-19 halftime lead.
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A triple by Taylor brought Dexter to within 26-22 and then two free throws by Haroldson cut the deficit to 31-28 with 3:40 left in the third quarter. Dexter’s Xavier Blumberg scored all five his points in third quarter, including a triple that cut the lead to 36-35.
Flint AC led 39-35 after three quarters.
Murphy scored to cut the deficit to 39-37 and a triple by Taylor cut the lead to 49-43. But the Cavs came right down to knock down a three-pointer to make it 52-43 with 4:20 left. In a “game of runs,” they would finish the game on an 8-4 run.
Dexter plays Williamston on Jan. 3.
