DEXTER -- The Bearcats relied on defense and a stout first half by Gabe Jackson on Saturday to advance to the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 semifinal.
Jackson scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, and fourth-seeded Dexter beat Ste. Genevieve 55-23 at the Bearcat Event Center.
The Bearcats (18-9) will meet top-seeded Sikeston in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Second-seeded Cape Central will face third-seeded Notre Dame in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Notre Dame beat sixth-seeded Perryville 65-32 Saturday.
"We've been talking this week in practice. (In order for) us to compete in district, we're going to have to play defense," Dexter coach Josh Dowdy said. "We know we lost some scoring along the way, so we have to find other ways to win. Regardless of what we talked about offensively this week, we knew it was going to come down to defense (and) rebounding. The boys obviously took that to heart. I couldn't be more proud of them."
While one of the Bearcats' injured starters returned to the lineup -- Dawson Kasting who also played against Cape Central on Thursday -- they were still without leading scorer Clay Mullins, who is out with strained tendons in his ankle, and Ben Sindle, who tore his ACL earlier in the season.
The Bearcats also played without part-time starter Alan Pippins, who broke his collarbone.
Jackson stepped up in their absence in the first half.
"We ran the high-low for most of the first half. I was real proud of the boys when they were catching in the high post and looking for him," Dowdy said. "Gabe was catching it with two hands, and I'd say he hit 80 percent of (his shots)."
Ste. Genevieve (9-17) switched to a zone defense in the second half, giving Jackson fewer opportunities to score.
Gabe Greminger gave the Dragons two early leads. He made a 3-pointer for a 3-0 advantage and scored inside for a 5-4 lead.
However, the Bearcats answered with seven straight points and led 13-7 after one quarter. Jackson scored on a putback and made a free throw, and Garrett Henson and Seth Rogers made two free throws each to cap the run, giving them an 11-5 lead.
Jackson fueled runs of 9-0 and 12-0 in the second quarter. He scored 12 points in the quarter.
Jackson scored five points in the 9-0 run with Braxton Foster adding a floater, and Kasting laying in a pass from Jackson.
Jackson scored eight points in the 12-0 run, including a dunk. Kasting and Henson made two free throws each, giving the Bearcats at 34-11 halftime lead.
Foster, a junior, and Kasting finished with eight points each.
"Braxton Foster's been real good coming off the bench and starting," Dowdy said. "He's accepted his role as starter the last two or three games, giving us a lot of energy and talking out there. He just looks excited to play basketball and that's good for the future."
The Bearcats stretched their lead to 33 points in the third quarter with Joe Rice, who finished with seven points, converting a three-point play for a 48-15 lead with 1:33 left in the quarter.
"I thought Joe Rice played with a lot of composure, especially in the second half handling the ball and jumping up there with two hands to get rebounds," Dowdy said.
Brandon Drury's putback with 1:18 to play cut the Bearcats' lead to 48-17 near the end of the quarter and became the only player besides Greminger and Chad Donze to score for the Dragons.
Greminger paced the Dragons with 12 points, Donze had eight and Drury finished with three.
The clock ran continuously for most of the fourth quarter because of the 30-point mercy rule.