MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A new state champion will be crowned in Class 3A. In a matchup featuring two West Tennessee schools, Dyersburg eliminated the defending state champions from South Side Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the Blue Cross Basketball Girls State Tournament by a final score of 59-47.
“My first year at Dyersburg, we lost in the first round last year,” said Dyersburg senior Netala Dixon. “This year, finally getting past that first round meant a lot, especially doing it with a special group of girls and coaches.”
The Lady Trojans were able to use a strong defensive performance to build a lead against South Side, forcing a total of 24 turnovers while scoring 27 points off of those turnovers. The Lady Hawks would eventually make a run and regain the lead in the second half, however, Dyersburg head coach Tim Strayhorn made sure his team was prepared for that exact situation.
“We knew if we could make it to the 4th quarter, we were going to pick up our pressure,” said Strayhorn. “We wanted to get up and play fast, and we knew they wanted to play fast. I just think we were the more skilled team tonight.”
South Side concludes their season with a 26-7 overall record, champions out of District 12AAA and Region 6AAA. Following yet another impressive run to the state tournament, the Lady Hawks know the program as a whole has earned the respect of everyone in Tennessee.
“I want people to think about how hard we go every time we play somebody,” said South Side senior Kimora Currie. “No one is ever going to run us out of the gym. You have to play all four quarters.”
“We’re going to work on our defense, being more aggressive in the post, being focused, knowing who to guard, who not to guard, just details,” said South Side junior Jaidynn Askins.
Dyersburg was led in scoring by Joya Crawford with 16 points. South Side was led by Kimora Currie with 13 points.
The Lady Trojans will now advance to the Class 3A semifinals against Cocke County. That game will tip off from the Murphy Center at 7:15 p.m. Friday evening.
