Trojan rally comes up just short, bad breaks end Dyersburg season

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

Fifteen seconds into the fourth quarter of Monday night’s TSSAA Class 3A Sectional contest at Munford, the Trojans found themselves trailing by 18 points after strong second and third quarters by the Cougars.

What followed was a comeback that gave Dyersburg a chance to win the game despite a couple bad breaks late in the game before falling 65-63 to the Cougars after a 30-point frame by the black and gold to end the season with a phenomenal effort.

“They went out playing how they play,” Dyersburg Head Coach Blaine Mahaffey said following the loss. “For that, they should forever feel good about themselves for how they went out playing.”

Dyersburg trailed 49-33 heading into the fourth quarter and an early bucket from Munford only made the hole a couple points deeper just a few seconds into the final frame. The Trojan offense began to wake up, getting a pair of Jeff Cobb free throws and a three-pointer by Cameron Rhines to cut the lead to 13 points. The Cougars were able to get a couple buckets in response to a Marcus Wharton jumper to extend the Munford lead to 55-40 with 4:40 left in the game. Cobb sank a three-pointer which sent the Trojans on a run. Cobb followed with a three-point play then Dyersburg got buckets from Wharton and Isaiah Thomas to account for the 10-0 run and cut the Munford lead down to five points. The Cougars battled back with buckets from JaDyn Lee and Bradley Millican to get up by seven. Buckets by Dyersburg from Jace Ward and Jeff Cobb made it a one possession game before a three-point play by Millican doubled the lead at 62-56.

A foul to Ward resulted in one free throw. After missing the second free throw came a bad break for the Trojans. Cougar Eli Patrick rebounded the ball but slipped when coming back down. As he fell to the floor, his legs split with his right foot appearing to slide out of bounds. Despite this, possession was given to the Cougars.  On the ensuing play, a foul sent Munford’s Courtney Chaffin to the line where he hit one of two free throws to push the Munford lead to seven with 37.4 seconds left. Still, the Trojans kept battling cutting it the lead to three points late in the frame after a Wharton bucket. A quick foul on the inbounds resulted in no time coming off the clock and the Cougars only hit one free throw to go back up by four with 9.6 seconds left. A late driving layup from Ward cut the Munford lead in half.

On the ensuing inbounds, Cougar Lee got the ball and raced down the baseline as the officials ruled he stayed in bounds to run out the clock and secure Munford’s berth in the TSSAA Class 3A State Tournament.

“Happy to see them play those last four to six minutes the way they are capable of playing,” Mahaffey added. “That’s awfully fun to watch.”

When asked, Mahaffey added his team has a ton of character and a ton of guts.

“Like I said, it was fun to watch them go out the way they are capable of playing,” Mahaffey reiterated.

Playing to a 4-4 tie through much of the first half of the opening quarter, Dyersburg went on a run in the first frame. A three-pointer from Ward sparked a 10-2 run which was capped by a trey and a jumper from Ward to help the Trojans take a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

But, the tide turned in the second quarter. With Lee scoring 10 points and hitting two of the five three-pointers the Cougars hit in the final eight minutes of the first half, the Cougars went on a 21-4 run through much of the frame which turned the tide of the game into the home team’s favor. A late A.J. Higgins bucket trimmed the Cougar lead to six before a Josiah Hawkins three-pointer put Munford on top 31-22 heading into the half.

Dyersburg was able to match the Cougars point for point through much of the third quarter before a three-point play by Lee opened a 7-0 run to end the frame. Munford took a 49-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

“Lot of credit to Munford,” the Trojan head coach said. “They made plays and they made some shots. Give a ton of credit to them.

“But, man, the guts of our kids – the way they fought and the way they played – I’m in awe of that.”

Ward led the way for the Trojans with 21 points while Cobb and Turnage each scored 13 in the loss.

The three leading scorers accounted for 21 of the Trojans’ 30 points during the fourth-quarter rally with saw Dyersburg end their season outscoring the Cougars 30-16.

The loss ends the high school careers of seven Trojan seniors, many of whom were on the court during the fourth quarter rally.

“This is just who they are,” Mahaffey said of his departing seniors. “People have enjoyed watching them play.

“They’ve got a lot to be thankful for. That’s one thing we talked about in the locker room. We all have a ton to be thankful for. This one, for a lack of a better word, sucks. I don’t have a better word. And it’s going to sting for a little while. We’ve got a ton to be thankful for. Me, personally, I’m very appreciative of everything they gave and what they did.”

Mahaffey added it was a great crowd to see the two teams battle for a spot in next week’s state tournament.

“It was good for our guys to play in front of that,” Mahaffey said. “They deserve that.

“I appreciate everybody that traveled down and that has helped along the way. It’s been a ton of fun, obviously, but it requires a lot of people – helping out and all that. And, we’ve had a ton. Just very appreciative of our support staff and everybody that is involved in our program.”

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