Last week, when asked what Dexter High School had to do to beat reigning district champs Huron, Dexter girls basketball coach Mike Bavineau shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said at the time. “I’m probably not the right person to ask. We haven’t beaten them much.”

The Dreadnaughts figured it out Wednesday night.

Dexter (15-6) methodically worked its offense, shooting 50 percent (15 of 30) from the floor, and outrebounded Huron 28-19 in a 44-41 upset of the River Rats in a Class A district semifinal at Pioneer High School.

“We just knew making them have to score tough baskets would put ourselves in a good position,” said Bavineau, whose team held Huron to 31 percent (14 of 44) shooting from the floor. “That was our main objective: contest every shot they take. And I thought we did that for most of the night.

“We got a little rattled and had to fight back and keep our composure.”

That came late in the fourth quarter when the River Rats erased a 10-point deficit -- led by eight straight points from Kelcy Barrot -- to tie the game at 39-39 with 3 minutes to go. Barrot finished with a game-high 22 points and was only River Rat in double figures.

Huron’s Bianca Williams stole a Dexter pass and sped in for a layup and the tying bucket.

“We fell in a huge hole and it’s tough climbing out,” said Huron coach Steve Vinson. “I mean, we did, but we made some bad plays at the end where we didn’t take care of the ball. Didn’t execute.

“We can’t put ourselves in that big of a hole…”

Melanie Maxwell is a photographer for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at melaniemaxwell@annarbor.com. Follow AnnArbor.com photography on Facebook at AnnArbor.com Photo and on Twitter at @AnnArborPhoto.