The Dexter boys’ basketball team didn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for rival Chelsea on Friday night as the Dreadnaughts put up 23 points in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs lived up to their nickname, chewing away at the lead as Chelsea cut the deficit to one point at halftime, tying the game after three and then sprinting past their hosts in the final quarter for a 59-50 victory.
“I thought we played tough and just let two quarters of the game slip away from us,” said Dexter coach Jason Rushton. “We’ve shown that we can compete and we can hang with some really tough teams, we just need to clean a few things up and we will do just that.”
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Chelsea is a very tough team and the Bulldogs will win a lot of basketball games. They play hard, they play smart and they can shoot the ball from all over the gym. And Dexter didn’t just hang with them, they were the better team on the court at times but couldn’t go the distance in the end.
The Dreadnaughts had three players in double-figures. Jack Demerell had a solid game for the home team, finishing with 13 points which included three triples. Evan Haroldson scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and Garrett Sharp had two triples and finished with 11 points.
AJ Vaughn scored all eight of his points in a strong first quarter for Dexter.
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Joey Cabana led Chelsea with 21 points.
A triple and a jumper by Vaughn gave the Dreadnaughts an 8-2 lead before a packed gym and a couple rowdy student sections. After knocking down a triple, Sharp converted a three-point play to give Dexter a 16-10 lead.
And then it was Demerell time. The talented guard scored on a layup after a steal to make it 20-10 and then hit a triple at the buzzer to send the Dexter student section into a frenzy and the Dreadnaughts into a 23-11 lead after one quarter.
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Dexter managed just eight points in the second quarter – six on triples from Demerell and Sharp – as Chelsea put up 19 points to cut the deficit to 31-30 at the half.
The teams battled at both ends of the third quarter. Demerell and Haroldson knocked down triples in the period and the game headed to the fourth tied at 43-43.
The Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter and led 52-45 with 6 minutes left in the game. Chelsea led 56-45 with 5 minutes to play and the Dreadnaughts couldn’t catch up. Haroldson scored all of Dexter’s seven points in the final period.
