BROSELEY -- Another day, another lopsided victory for the Dexter Bearcats.
The top-seeded Bearcats rolled past ninth-seeded Kennett 69-22 Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic at Twin Rivers High School.
After crushing 16th-seeded East Carter 104-21 in the first round Saturday, the Bearcats built a huge lead against Kennett that resulted in a running clock in the fourth quarter because they led by 30 or more points.
However, coach Chad Allen knows that the Bearcats have work to do if they want to repeat as tournament champions.
The Bearcats (8-2) will meet fifth-seeded Chaffee in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday. Chaffee beat No. 4 Naylor 48-26 later Tuesday night.
Despite building a 42-13 halftime lead behind nine 3-pointers, Allen saw room for improvement in the Bearcats' post game.
"We've got to get better looking for each other in the post," Allen said. "In other situations, reading what's going on throughout the course of the game. Reading if someone is about to get a rebound or about to get a steal and reacting."
While the Bearcats struggled inside, their defense and 3-point shooting picked up the slack, forcing 10 Kennett turnovers to take a 19-6 lead after one quarter.
Chaylea Mosby and Natalie Sitze each made early 3-pointers, and Maycie Martin's jumper put the Bearcats ahead 8-0. Martin scored six of her 16 points in the first quarter.
After Dakayla Duckworth drove the lane for a bucket for Kennett, Hannah Thurmon's 3-pointer sparked an 11-0 run that put the Bearcats ahead 19-9. She capped the run with a steal and two free throws.
Camille Thomas drove the baseline for a layup and Duckworth drove the lane for two, slicing Kennett's deficit to 19-6 by the end of the quarter.
The Bearcats posted 23 second-quarter points to take a 29-point halftime lead. They sank six 3-pointers in the second, including four by Mosby who amassed a game-high 33 points that included seven 3-pointers.
In all, the Bearcats made 12 3-pointers compared to only 13 from inside the arc.
Sitze and Thurmon made their second 3-pointers of the game in the second quarter. Thurmon finished with nine points and Sitze had six.
The Indians made a 6-0 run to start the third quarter. Kayton Harris scored four of her team-high seven points during that stretch, and Duckworth scored two of her seven in the third.
However, the Bearcats regrouped and closed the quarter with a 14-0 run to take a 56-19 lead into the final quarter.
"I thought we came out flat in the second half. We just weren't getting after it," Allen said." "(I) called a timeout and I thought after that we started to play a little bit better. (We were) more active. Those are the kinds of things we've got to get better at, too. We can't focus on what the score is. We've got to keep playing hard all game long."
Kennett committed seven more turnovers in the third and attempted only six shots from the field.
The Indians committed 28 turnovers in the game and attempted only 27 shots compared to Dexter's 65.