Lady Trojans outlast Alcoa to advance to TSSAA Class 3A State Championship Game

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Productions Sports

Despite a pesky effort from Alcoa, Dyersburg’s Lady Trojans will play for their second gold ball in three years as the black and gold fended off the Lady Tornadoes with a strong fourth quarter to advance to the TSSAA Class 3A Championship Game with a 61-53 win on Friday afternoon in Murfreesboro.

Leading by four heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Trojans worked about a minute off the clock before a foul gave the ball to Alcoa. Dyersburg’s defense made it a short possession thanks to a Chelby Jordan steal and layup attempt. The attempt did draw a foul which resulted in a pair of free throws from the Class 3A Miss Basketball Finalist to extend the Dyersburg lead to 46-40 with 6:49 left. The Lady Trojan defense stepped up with two straight turnovers resulting in Jordan layups to go up ten before Alcoa called a timeout.

Alcoa finally got on the board in the fourth frame with a three-pointer by Jacy Cox with 4:54 left in regulation which was followed by a Gwen Carroll jumper. The run was short-lived as Dyersburg got a Kay Kay Strayhorn layup to go back ahead by seven with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter. A Jordan bucket put Dyersburg ahead by nine approaching two minutes left in regulation. Alcoa’s Harper Stinnett got the Lady Tornadoes back within six with a trey with 2:01 left.

By this time, Alcoa was forced to foul for possession and sent Jordan to the line with 1:15 left where she hit both attempts. Kaliyah Lewis was fouled on a rebound moments later, hitting the first before a lane violation negated the second attempt. Stinnett hit a twisting and driving layup to answer but Alcoa sent Aerie Quinn to the line where she hit both to make it a nine-point game. A late steal led to an Alcoa foul and two more Jordan free throws to extend Dyersburg’s lead to double-figures with less than 30 seconds left.

Both teams battled through a low-scoring first quarter before a free throw and a jumper from Chelby Jordan put Dyersburg on top 6-4 with 4:57 left in the opening frame. Alcoa put together a quick 6-0 run but that was quickly matched later in the quarter. The Lady Trojans got a layup from Jordan and three-pointers from Kathleen Harrell and Zya Currie to take a 14-10 lead after one quarter.

After Dyersburg gave up an early Alcoa bucket in the second quarter, the Lady Trojans pushed their lead to five with two buckets by Jordan and another by Kaliyah Lewis to counter a Harper Stinnett three-pointer. After Dyersburg built its lead back to five with another Jordan bucket, Stinnett hit another trey to cut it back to 22-20 with 3:29 left. A layup from Bri Parr and a mid-range jumper by Kay Kay Strayhorn pushed the Dyersburg lead to six with 2:32 left in the half. Jordan and Alcoa’s Gwen Carroll traded treys before a late free throw by Strayhorn put the Lady Trojans on top 30-25 at the half.

The two teams swapped buckets through the opening of the second half until a three-pointer by Alcoa’s Stinnett opened an 8-0 run by the Lady Tornadoes. The run was finally snapped by a three-pointer from Harrell to tie the game at 40-40 with 1:06 left in the third quarter. A late foul sent Aerie Quinn to the line where the senior guard hit both attempts to give Dyersburg a 42-40 lead with 32 seconds left. The Dyersburg defense came up with a stop with 8.4 seconds left then Strayhorn added a running jumper in the lane to put the Lady Trojans on top 44-40 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jordan led the way for the Lady Trojans with 29 points and seven rebounds while Strayhorn and Quinn each added seven in the win.

Dyersburg will play the winner of the second semifinal game between White County and Cocke County on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

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