Dyersburg holds off Cavalier upset bid in overtime


 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports



The Trojans had a battle on their hands on Tuesday night as the Cavaliers, winless in District 13-3A gave the Dyersburg boys all they could handle as it took an extra quarter before the black and gold claimed a 72-68 overtime win over Crockett County in the Terry Glover Gymnasium.

“It’s a league game in February and everybody is trying to win,” Dyersburg Head Coach Blaine Mahaffey said. “They’re getting better. If you look at their last four or five games, they’ve been close and have had their opportunities.

“Tonight was no different. That’s a credit to their players and their coaches. They keep playing.”

With the game tied at 35-35 at the half, the two teams swapped buckets at the start of the third quarter. A pair of free throws from Jeff Cobb with 5:29 left in the frame helped spark a Trojan scoring spree which saw the DHS boys take a 53-44 lead after an Isaiah Thomas bucket with 1:23 left in the third frame. Crockett County answered with a Cade Freeman layup before a pair of Cobb free throws and a Thomas jumper put Dyersburg on top 57-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers stormed out of the gates in the fourth frame, opening the quarter with an 11-0 run punctuated by a three-pointer from Cortland Reddick to cut the Dyersburg lead to two. The Trojans got a bucket from Breyden Turnage and free throws from Jace Ward and A.J. Higgins to push the lead back to 61-55. A trio of free throws from Crockett’s Jaydem Frye and a bucket by Squirt Pickens cut the lead back to two with 14 seconds left. A Ward free throw made it a three-point game before a late three-pointer by Cavalier Zay Jones tied the game at 64-64 and sent the game into overtime.


“Man, we had to do some stuff when it mattered down the stretch,” the Trojan head coach said. “That was good to see.”

The Cavaliers got an early three-pointer from Kevin Pledge to take the lead in overtime but the Trojans got two Ward free throws and a putback from him as well to take the lead. From there, in the final 90 seconds, a Turnage bucket and a pair of free throws from Jayce Ellerbrook sealed the Dyersburg win.

“You’ve got to be battle-tested. Like I said, it’s a February league game,” Mahaffey added. “A lot of credit to them. They showed up and made some plays then we had to make some plays. It was a good district basketball game in February.”

Ward led the way for the Trojans with 18 points while Turnage tossed in 17. Cobb added 14 in the win for Dyersburg.

Dyersburg returns to action on Friday when the Trojans and Lady Trojans head to Newbern to Dyer County to take on the Choctaws and Lady Choctaws. Girls action begins at 6 p.m.



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