Dyersburg girls host Millington in Class 3A Sectional Round


 


Jason Peevyhouse

JP Productions Sports

Following a trio of double-digit wins which led the Lady Trojans to their third straight Region 7-3 Championship, the Dyersburg girls are one win away from the TSSAA Class 3A State Tournament for the third straight season.

It’s a feat that has not been done by a Dyersburg team since the days of Sherelle Warren and the only thing standing between the Lady Trojans and tying the mark for the more consecutive trips to the state tournament in the girls basketball program are the Lady Trojans – from Millington.

With minimal losses to graduation during this string of state tournament runs, it’s beginning to feel like a normal step in the process for the Lady Trojans here in the early days of March. That’s reflected by Dyersburg Head Coach Tim Strayhorn, who looks to guide his team to the state tournament for the third time during his four-year tenure.

“It’s what we’re supposed to do,” Strayhorn explained. “Our standards are real high. Our goal was first to take care of this like we did last year. First step was to win the district, then region.

“Our next step is to take care of this substate game. We’re going to be focused and take care of it. Then, we start looking to prepare for that state tournament run.”

The last close game the Lady Trojans have had was the District 13-3A Championship Game on Feb. 26 when Dyersburg narrowly held off South Gibson for a 32-31 win. While this could have been a motivating factor, Strayhorn explained it was not the case. Instead he pointed between the 13-day break between the end of the regular season and the district semifinals which was caused by snow.

“Not to take anything away from South Gibson, but that two weeks really hurt us without a game,” the Lady Trojan head coach explained. “We were rusty.

“But, once we got back into the groove, we’re set and ready to go for Saturday night.”

Speaking of Saturday night, Strayhorn said the Lady Trojans from Millington play hard.

“They’ve got a bunch of kids that play hard and they’re going to try to press a lot,” he explained. “We’re going to have to play to beat them.”

The Lady Trojans are looking to return to Murfreesboro as the defending Class 3A State Champions. Staying focused in the moment has not been something Strayhorn feels his team has much of an issue with.

“We have always tried to take it one game at a time,” Strayhorn said. “I never look at who play, who we could play.

“I think the team is used to looking at the right now instead of tomorrow. We don’t change our routine.”

Strayhorn added that should Dyersburg win on Saturday night, he doesn’t feel like there will be a target on the black and gold’s back when they reach Murfreesboro.

“Losing a few games, people quit talking about us,” Strayhorn said. “I think we got off the radar a little bit.

“Which being ranked number one which we were at one time, that doesn’t mean anything to us. That’s not our goal – to be ranked number one, two or three. Our goal is to go win that gold ball.”

Millington enters Saturday night’s contest with a record of 20-12 while Dyersburg comes in sporting a 26-4 mark – one win less than their mark a year ago. A common opponent between the two teams is Dyer County. Millington defeated the Lady Choctaws twice by an average of five points. Dyersburg’s three wins over the Lady Choctaws averaged around 25 points per win.

Regardless of how Saturday night goes, it will be the last time Lady Trojan seniors Jada Howard, Kalli Maclin and Joya Crawford play in the Terry Glover Gymnasium. Getting a win and securing a third straight spot in the state tournament to close out their careers will be big for these three but others as well as Strayhorn explained.

“It’s going be big for not just them but our community, our school, our team, the parents, the players – it’s just going to be big all around,” Strayhorn added. “But, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

The Lady Trojans will take on Millington at 7 p.m. tonight (Saturday, March 8) in the TSSAA Class 3A Sectional Round in the Terry Glover Gymnasium.

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