The Chelsea-Dexter girls’ basketball rivalry never fails to be a battle and Friday night was no exception when the Bulldogs clipped the Dreadnaughts 50-49 in an epic thriller.
Both teams came into the game red-hot with the Bulldogs winning nine of their last 11 (both losses were to the top two teams in D2) and the Dreadnaughts on a nine-game winning streak.
Chelsea was without senior guard Braiden Scheffler and freshman Audrey McCarley stepped in and sparked the Bulldogs with a pair of first period three pointers to give Chelsea a 13-7 lead after one quarter.
The Bulldogs opened the second with a 6-1 run and built a double-digit 19-8 lead, but the Dreadnaughts fought back.
Addy Wylie hits three triples in the second quarter to get Dexter back into the game and cut the Chelsea lead to 26-20 at the half.
The Bulldogs pushed their lead back to nine with a Maggie McKale basket at the buzzer to end the third for a 40-31 lead.
Chelsea continued to hold a nine-point lead with 3:45 left, but Dexter wasn’t done.
Alena Blumberg hit a triple to cut the lead to six.
The Bulldogs struggled from the free throw line, hitting just one of seven free throws to help Dexter stay in the game.
An Addison Chase three-pointer cut the Bulldogs lead to 46-42 and an Alena Blumberg lay-in made it a two-point game 46-44 with 1:35 left.
Avery Lay split a pair of free throws to put Chelsea up three with 1:05 left, but Layla Blumberg tied the game with a triple for Dexter to make it 47-47 with 44.7 left.
Dexter made a mistake, thinking they were still trailing and fouled Chelsea right away and McCarley split a pair of free throws to put the Bulldogs up 48-47.
After a Dexter miss, Chelsea was called for an illegal screen to give the Dreads the ball back with 23 seconds left.
Lizzie Lewis grabbed a loose ball and hit a basket to give Dexter a 49-48 lead with 11 seconds left.
Lay took the inbounds and drove the length of the court and was fouled with 4.7 on the clock. She calmly sank both free throws to put Chelsea up 50-49.
Dexter had one final chance, but the shot bounced off the front of the rim and the buzzer and the Bulldogs celebrated.
Lay led the Bulldogs with 17 points, including the game winning free throw with four seconds left.
Aleeah Wells added 13 points and McCarley came up huge in place of Scheffler with ten points, including three triples.
Addy Howard finished with six points and McKale four.
The Bulldogs improved to 16-3 overall and will host D2 fifth-ranked Detroit Edison Thursday night before heading to districts.
Wylie led Dexter with 18 points, including five triples.
Alena Blumberg added 11 points and Layla Blumberg nine. Kendall Cabana added six points, Chase four, and Lewis one.
Dexter fell to 15-6 overall. They will play for a share of the SEC Red title when they travel to Monroe Tuesday night.
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
