Championship Comeback: DMS rallies from 11 down to take section title

Championship Comeback

DMS rallies from 11 down to take section title

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

Trailing by 11 going into the final minute of the third quarter during Thursday night’s TMSAA Girls Class AA Section 3 Tournament at Dyersburg Middle School, it would have been easy for the hosting Lady Trojans to falter and have their season come to an end.

But, a strong finish to the frame followed by a scrappy and determined final six minutes on their home court led to a 45-44 win by the Lady Trojans to punch their ticket to the TMSAA Class AA State Tournament following a thrilling final minute of action.

“We had to continue to get stops,” DMS Head Coach Shaunda Strayhorn explained. “We had to find Amaya Brooks – she had the hot hand tonight – and make sure Kaheriyah Clinton didn’t catch the ball and go straight in on us.

“They shot the ball really well. Brooks came out and she made up for all the points she missed when they played Paris. I know she had six threes against us tonight.”

Parkway’s Brooks hit six three-pointers but five of those came in the first half with only one in the third quarter for her entire second half point total.

“I had to come out and face guard her not to get hot in the third quarter,” Strayhorn explained. “Tinley (Newsom) is an amazing defender. If you notice, she’s the one I put on Brooks to face guard. She plays really hard and she doesn’t give up.”

The Lady Trojans trailed by 11 at the half but were able to cut it back to six early in the third quarter as Desleign Strayhorn, held scoreless through the first 13 minutes of action, hit a pair of buckets and a free throw to cut the North Parkway lead to 23-17. North Parkway answered with a quick run of its own around another Strayhorn bucket and built its lead back to 30-19 with 1:08 left in the frame.

DMS responded, getting a jumper from Micah Mclin to open a quarter-ending run by the Lady Trojans. Interrupted by a lone three-pointer from North Parkway’s Addyson Cole, Strayhorn scored a layup and three-of-three from the line over the final 30 seconds. But, she also nailed a running three-pointer from three steps beyond the top of the arch to cut the North Parkway lead to 33-29 heading into the final six minutes.

DMS rode the momentum into the fourth quarter as TJ Jones opened the frame with a bucket then Strayhorn hit one of two at the line (her only miss from the line in 15 attempts on Thursday) before hitting a layup to put the Lady Trojans on top for the first time of the night with 4:23 left in the game.

North Parkway battled back to retake the lead and go up 40-38 with 1:14 left in the game.

As she had done multiple times already in the second half, Strayhorn came up big on the next DMS possession, driving in for a layup, hitting it and drawing a foul in the process. North Parkway retook the lead with a Kaheriyah Clinton layup but a foul almost immediately after the inbounds put Strayhorn on the line where she hit both attempts to put DMS back on top.

North Parkway answered on its next trip down the court with a Mariah Gillespie putback of her own miss to go up 44-43 with 13.4 seconds left. DMS went to work on its final possession with the ball finding Strayhorn who missed a layup but drew a blocking foul on the shot. The seventh grader hit her 13^th and 14^th free throw of the game to put DMS back on top. The North Parkway pass on the ensuing inbounds was intercepted to give the Lady Trojans the win, Section 3 Championship and the TMSAA Class AA State Tournament berth which comes with the two.

“At practice, we have these things called pressure free throws,” the DMS head coach explained. “I stepped it up a notch. Usually, every free throw they miss, they get two, and every free throw they miss they get a line. I told them, from now one, however many they miss, we run pro sets.

“Those are pressure free throws in moments like this – whenever you’re tired, the crowd is loud and it’s crunch time. So, I feel like we prepared ourselves a lot in practice.”

DMS fell behind early after a slow start before Jones hit a layup and a three-pointer to get the Lady Trojans on the board. But, North Parkway ended the frame strong to take a 10-5 lead after one quarter.

Jones added a bucket early in the second quarter then another moments later to cut the North Parkway lead to one. But, a three-pointer from North Parkways’s Amaya Brooks opened an 11-0 run through much of the rest of the first half to build a 21-10 lead for the visitors heading into the half.

“We came out cold in the first half,” Strayhorn said. “Desleign didn’t score in the first half. TJ stepped up in that first quarter and scored seven straight points for us. That’s major for her because she went cold in when we played them in the Christmas Tournament.”

Strayhorn led the way for the Lady Trojans with 31 points – all in the second half – while Jones added 11 to account for just over 93 percent of the team’s scoring in the championship win.

But, Coach Strayhorn pointed out it was more than scoring which got the Lady Trojans the state-tournament-clinching win.

“Katherine (Rogers) had a lot of great rebounds” Strayhorn explained. “Mari (Dubose) has stepped up a lot for us on defense in that middle being a big presence. She’s leading us in shot blocks for us.”

DMS will travel to Middle Tennessee next Friday for the TMSAA Class AA Girls State Tournament. The Lady Trojans will face the Section 1 winner in the first round of the single-elimination tournament. With a win, DMS will advance to the Class AA State Championship Game. But, with a loss, the Lady Trojans will play for third place. Both of those contests will be on Saturday. The TMSAA State Tournaments will be held at four locations in Rutherford County – Stewarts Creek High School, Stewarts Creek Middle School, Rockvale High School and Rockvale Middle School.