Dyersburg cruises past Bolivar to fourth straight state tournament

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

Coming in as the top-seeded team from Region 7-3A for the fourth straight season, Dyersburg’s Lady Trojans (24-6) punched their ticket to the state tournament for the fourth year in a row with a 64-31 win over visiting Bolivar on Saturday night in the Terry Glover Gymnasium.

“We didn’t shoot it that well tonight and we’ve been a little rusty,” Dyersburg Head Coach Tim Strayhorn said. “We’ve been banged up trying to rest.

“So, we didn’t play well tonight but we played well enough to get that win.”

Bolivar was able to answer an early Chelby Jordan bucket with a free throw but that would be as close as the Lady Tigers got the rest of the night. A running jumper from Kay Kay Strayhorn opened a 17-2 run through the rest of the first quarter which put Dyersburg firmly ahead 19-3 after one quarter.

Dyersburg’s scoring was cut almost in half in the second quarter with the Lady Trojans being limited to just 10 points in the final eight minutes of the first half. The black and gold defense took steps to make sure the Lady Tigers didn’t gain ground as Dyersburg held Bolivar to nine points in the second frame and held a 29-12 lead heading into the half.

The Lady Trojans scored in spurts during the third quarter as seven points from Strayhorn and five from Jordan helped Dyersburg push its lead to 47-20 heading into the final frame.

Dyersburg put the game out of reach in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, jumping out to a 12-0 run to build a lead of nearly 30 points on the way to the mercy rule win.

Strayhorn led the way with 20 points while Jordan added 13 in the win for the Lady Trojans.

The win marks the first time in school history the Lady Trojans will make it to the state tournament for four years in a row.

“We’ve got some really good players,” Strayhorn said. “We spend a lot of time on skill and getting our kids developed.

“We just believe in fundamental basketball and we keep getting better and better each year.”

Dyersburg has played its best basketball down the stretch as the Lady Trojans 9 of their last 11 games as well as 15 of their 18 games in the second half of the season.

“We usually, when we come out of our Christmas Tournament, play our best,” the Dyersburg head coach said. “We’re starting to play our best and we’re hoping it will linger over into the state tournament.”

The Lady Trojans will play Daniel Boone (32-3) in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Wednesday evening in Murfreesboro at Middle Tennessee State University at 4 p.m. in the Murphy Center.

“We’re going to get shots up tomorrow and rest,” Strayhorn said of the immediate plans heading into the state tournament. “We’re going to see who we’ll draw the first go-around then get ready for them.”

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