The Lady Tigers are locked in a battle for fourth in the district with Livingston Academy as the finish line for the regular season looms on the near horizon with the Smithville girls taking a split in district action last week.
The Lady Tigers were able to claim a season sweep over the Lionettes last week, winning a 39-38 squeaker in Woodbury before coming home to be swept themselves by district powerhouse Upperman, 51-39.
The Lady Tigers won their first game with Cannon County, 56-43 when they first faced off in Smithville a few weeks ago. However, the Woodbury girls would not go away quietly in the key divisional tilt as the teams played in hopes of avoiding a first round game against either of the top dogs in the district tournament, Macon County or Upperman. The teams were neck-and-neck entering last week’s showLady Tigers battle for fourth in district
down in Woodbury, the loser to be on the outside looking in for playoff seeding.
The Lady Tigers took an early lead over their hosts, going up 11-7 after one. Once again leading the Lady Tigers was junior phenom Kadee Ferrell who appears to be recovered from the early season leg injury that kept her riding the pines for the first games of the season. She led her squad with 18 on the night, slashing her way through the Lionette defense to set the early tone.
DeKalb maintained their lead into half-time, up by three at the buzzer, 21-18. Seniors Emma Colwell and Kenzie France, both with recollection of their trip to the state championship last year still in their memories, were able to contribute six apiece in the opening half.
The Lady Tigers proved they were the top felines in the Cannon County gym as they pushed their lead to five after three, leading 30-25 going into the final frame. However, Cannon County, knowing the high stakes, made an electric run in the fourth, their rally falling a single point short.
With a big of separation between themselves and Cannon, DeKalb hoped to recapture the magic from last season that saw them upset Upperman in the playoffs last season. However, the magic did not happen in the DeKalb County gym Friday as Upperman held the upper hand. Upperman won in Baxter earlier this season, 52-35. However, it should be noted, Upperman defeated the Lady Tigers on three occasions last year before DeKalb made a breakthrough in their fourth meeting of the season and eliminated the then-defending state champions from the tournament.
And, much like their improbable win last season, the Lady Tigers were able to play basket-for-basket with the Lady Bees for the entire first half, trailing 14-12 after one and 27-23 at the half. However, a third quarter swoon cost the Lady Tigers any change of an upset as they found themselves down by 15 going into the final frame. Ferrell once again led the Lady Tigers with 16. Megan Walker had eight.
The loss put DeKalb County and Livingston Academy in a dead-heat for fourth in the division as both owned 6-6 district records coming into this week, both with two district games to go. York Academy, who has beaten both teams thus far is just ahead at 7-5 while Macon County sits atop the division at 12-0 followed by Macon County at 11-1 – both of whom have claimed the first and second seeds for the district tournament. Cannon sits just below DeKalb and Livingston at 5-7 on the year while Watertown at 1-11 and Smith County at 0-12 have locked up the last two spots in the rankings.
On the horizon for the Lady Tigers Tuesday night is another meeting with top-ranked Macon County who beat them 78-54 in Smithville. Meanwhile, Livingston will play York who blew them out 58-32 in their earlier meeting. DeKalb will end its season with the last ranked Smith County squad, although it should be noted the Lady Tigers needed overtime to win their last tilt. Meanwhile, Livingston will end its season with Cannon County who they beat earlier 39-36.
