2-07-2026 2:47am

BOYS BASKETBALL: Fourth Quarter Foul Trouble Dooms Hornets

Dexter defeated Saline, 49-42, in boys' varsity basketball action at Saline High School Friday.

Saline fell to 12-6 overall and 5-5 in the SEC Red. Dexter improved to 7-2 in the SEC Red and 12-5 overall.

Saline came out flying with 19 points in the first quarter. Dexter chipped away at the Hornet lead in the second and third quarters. Saline led 37-28 going into the fourth, but a shooting outage and foul trouble doomed the Hornets.

Coach Jason Pickett said the Hornets got the start they wanted.

"I thought we really moved the ball and found the guys, something we've been working at. Our offense is morphing as we're adding pieces to it," Pickett said. "Starting in November and getting to where we are at tonight is pretty impressive."

For whatever reason, a came that had been fairly evenly called suddenly went hard against the Hornets. One count saw 13 fouls against the Hornets in the fourth. Dexter was in the bonus just two minutes into the quarter. At the other end, the Hornets went to the free throw line just twice in the fourth quarter.

"Dexter made a concerted effort to try to get to the rim and get to the free throw line," Pickett said. "When you have three refs, sometimes you'll talk to one and he'll say he's going to look for it and then the next guy makes a different call. And then he'll look for it. But by that point, the momentum starts to shift."

Pickett didn't blame the fouls, but said the team lost energy.

"I thought we kind of slogged down a little bit in the fourth quarter. It wasn't so much the fouls. I thought we didn't run our things the way we should be running them. And that's on me," Pickett said.

In the first quarter, the Hornets exploded out of the gate. Chris Cotuna, Leo Sotiropoulos and Gabe Iadipaolo scored for the Hornets and them Noah Kronberg hit a three-pointer.

Saline led 9-0. Dexter made the scoreboard with a three-pointer but Iadipaolo hit one of his own, and Saline led 12-3.

Saline took a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.

The game leveled in the second. Saline outscored Dexter, 9-7 in the second. The highlight of the quarter was Chris Cotuna's dunk with a big Dexter player in his face.

Saline led 28-18 at halftime.

The Dreads started closing the gap but Cotuna hit a three-pointer from the corner to give Saline a 37-26 and the Hornets led by 9 going into the fourth

Saline's foul trouble started immediately in the fourth.

Brady Baldwin extended Saline's lead to 39-30 with a layup.

It was Saline's last field goal until late in the game. Dexter went on a run, outscoring Saline 10-1 to tie the game at 40.

Sotiropoulus briefly out Saline up, 42-40, but Dexter scored the next nine points.

Stats:

Saline