The DCHS Lady Tigers’ 17-year losing streak to the Cannon County Lionettes was broken in a spectacular fashion Thursday night when DeKalb pulled out a 46-45 win with less than a second on the clock.
The Lady Tigers wrapped up their regular season with a tooth-grinding win against Cannon, biting and scratching all the way to the final nanoseconds of the game. The two teams fought for the lead for the entire match, seldom more than three points apart on the scoreboard.
DeKalb County trailed by only two after an 11-9 first period, but a second period battle put them ahead 22-19 at halftime after outscoring Cannon 13-8 in the period. DeKalb clung to a 35-33 lead going in to the third period.
Then after a frantic final period in which the lead was traded back and forth like a hot potato, DeKalb found themselves in possession of the ball, trailing 45-44, and with nine-tenths of a second to do something about it.
And they did.
The three senior members of the squad teamed up in an artful finale to the season that had the crowd on its tiptoes. Morgan Pedigo set a backscreen while Jailyn Bolding passed the ball inbounds to Ashli Chew, who calmly dropped the winning two points in for the win.
Chew led the Lady Tiger offense with 27 points, hitting nine two-pointers and going 6-for-9 from the line. Morgan Pedigo put in eight points for DeKalb, dropping two three-point shots. Jailyn Bolding scored six, and went 2-for-2. Joni Robinson added four on two-pointers, and Hannah Panter helped out with one point.
The Lady Tigers wrapped up the regular season with a 22-12 overall record and 5-9 record in district play. The Ladies will face York Institute in the District 8 AA Tournament this Friday at Hooper Eblen Center on the Tennessee Tech campus. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, The Lady Tigers defeated Central Magnet 18-17 in Murfreesboro Tuesday night.
While DeKalb trailed 18-17 after the first period, a second-period burst gave them a 35-26 lead at halftime. The Lady tigers held on to a scant 44-42 advantage at the end of the third, but fought their way to a ten-point lead at the final buzzer.
Ashli Chew scored 22 points for DeKalb, going 6-for-12 from the free-throw line. Morgan Pedigo followed with 18, on six three-pointers. Jailyn Bolding put in an impressive 12 points, going 8-for-15, and Hannah Panter, Joni Robinson, and Macy Hedge put in three each for the Lady Tigers.