Boys Basketball: Dexter holds off Pioneer in overtime in SEC opener

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.

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.