BLOOMFIELD -- The Bloomfield Wildcats challenged anyone other than Dexter's Gabe Jackson to beat them on Tuesday night, and the Bearcats responded.
The Wildcats held Jackson to 10 points, including only two in the second half, but the Bearcats countered with a balanced scoring effort to win the Stoddard County Activities Association matchup 68-43 at Bloomfield High School.
"We were going to try, if he caught it, to get the ball out of (Jackson's) hands as quickly as possible, just try to make things as hard as possible for him," Bloomfield coach Brandon Crook said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of that."
Eight different Bearcats scored, including four in double figures, as they stretched their win streak to seven games.
"That's what we wanted to do, make some other guys step up and score, and they did a good job of that," Crook said. "You've got to give credit to them for doing that."
Seth Rogers paced the Bearcats (8-5, 3-0 SCAA) with a game-high 16 points. Alan Pippins added 15 on five 3-pointers and Dawson Kasting had 12 points in addition to Jackson's 10.
"It's nice to have balanced scoring," Dexter coach Josh Dowdy said. "Seth had some big baskets early. They were sagging off our guards and making us beat them from the outside. I don't like asking our guys just to fire 3s.
"Sometimes you have to take what the defense gives you," Dowdy added.
While the Wildcats focused on slowing down Jackson, the Bearcats kept a close eye on Bloomfield's top scorer, Peyton Bell, who managed only eight points.
"Dawson Kasting has been a defensive stopper for us all year, and tonight was no different," Dowdy said.
Travis McCullough paced Bloomfield with 11 points, and Carson Blair had 10 that featured three 3-pointers.
The Bearcats built a 22-15 lead after one quarter behind 10 points by Rogers. Bloomfield stayed within five points of the lead early, but Kasting sparked a pivotal 10-0 run with a midrange jumper. Rogers and Pippins followed with 3-pointers, and Clay Mullins came up with a steal and fed Rogers inside to give the Bearcats a 20-9 lead.
"I asked Dawson, if you're open when they're sagging, just shoot the basketball," Dowdy said. "Dawson can make shots from 15 feet. He's proven that the last two nights out. He had 22 points against Woodland (on Friday) and he obviously made some contributions tonight."
The Wildcats' Blair, McCullough and Dalton Phillips each made 3-pointers in the first quarter. Those open shots were made possible because Bloomfield attacked the basket with regularity.
"I was real disappointed early in the game, especially the first quarter (with) how we didn't stop dribble penetration," Dowdy said. "We did clean that up (in the) second quarter. I felt like that was the difference defensively."
The Wildcats drove inside, drew contact and attempted 10 free throws in the first half. They only attempted six foul shots in the second half. Overall, they converted 7 of 16 free throws.
Dexter stretched its lead to 38-26 by halftime behind a balanced attack. Six different players scored points for the Bearcats in the second, including 3-pointers by Pippins and Ben Sindle.
Kasting scored the Bearcats' first six points of the second half, and Pippins sank two 3-pointers, as Dexter extended its lead to 54-37 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Jackson's putback, a three-point play by Mullins and another 3-pointer by Pippins pushed the Bearcats' lead to 62-39 midway through the fourth.
"We competed and played pretty well.," Crook said. "We made Dexter fight for 3 1/2 quarters."
The Bearcats will play at home for only the second time this season Friday night, when they host Bernie in another SCAA matchup. The game will be played in the old high school gymnasium.
Bloomfield (6-6, 1-2) will face Malden on Friday in a nonconference road contest.