Quick start helps Tigers top Stearns
DEXTER — A 10-0 run to open the game and shutout effort for the entire second quarter helped the Dexter Regional High School boys roll to a 52-21 victory over Stearns High School of Millinocket during a Class C North contest on Jan. 6. The Tigers improved to 6-2 near the halfway point of the season and the team handed the 0-6 Minutemen the team’s sixth defeat by 20-plus points in as many games.
Five field goals on layups or shots in the post helped Dexter quickly build the 10-0 advantage. Stearns briefly closed the floodgates with four points following a timeout, but an ensuing 8-3 run put the Tigers ahead 18-7 after the first eight minutes of play.
Dexter senior Brayden Miller picked up 10 of his game-high 14 points in the opening quarter to outscore the opposition all on his own. His five field goals came underneath the basket as the Tigers used layups and shots from down low to pick up 16 of the 18 first quarter points (senior CJ Cooper added two on a pair of free throws).
The Tigers matched the 10-0 run to start play with the exact same output in the second quarter as four of the team’s five starters accounted for the production on four field goals, including a three-pointer by senior William Strauch, and a foul shot.
Stearns would not get beyond seven points until the 5:36-mark of the third quarter for about 12 total minutes of scoreless play by Dexter. The Minutemen scored only seven points in both quarters of the second half as Dexter held 10-7 and 14-7 advantages.
Strauch joined Miller in double figures with 10 points, and a half dozen of their teammates also got on the scoring sheet.
Dexter is scheduled to travel to Millinocket to face Stearns again on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
TEN POINTS IN THE OPENING QUARTER — Dexter senior Brayden Miller records the second of his five field goals in the first quarter of a Jan. 6 contest vs. Stearns High School of Millinocket. Miller’s 10 points were more than the entire Minutemen team and the early 18-7 lead helped the Tigers earn a 52-21 victory to improve to 6-2. Miller would end up leading all players with 14 points.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
STEAL FOR TWO — Senior William Strauch of Dexter takes a steal the other way for a lay-up in the opening quarter of Friday’s game vs. Stearns. Strauch would finish the evening with 10 points.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
FORCING A TIMEOUT — Stearns junior Trenton Goody has no choice but to look to the official to call a timeout as he could not get the ball in-bounds past the reach of Dexter junior Matthew Richards.