Maddison Parsley had only one point Monday night but that one point was HUGE as the senior toed the line and swished a foul shot with one second on the clock to dethrone the two-time defending champion Upperman Lady Bees and send the Lady Tigers on to the Regional finals, 36-35.
The win comes after three losses to the district foe, the latest coming just over a week ago when the Lady Bees expelled DeKalb from the district tournament in a clash at Tennessee Tech, 32-26. The two prior meetings ended up being one-sided regular season losses. However, the fourth time was the charm as the Lady Tigers led for a good portion of the game, maintaining a 22-18 lead at the half and keeping that four-point advantage going into the final stanza. But, as Upperman had done so many times this season, they came with run down the stretch and took the lead in the waning minutes before the Lady Tigers were able to even things with under a minute to go.
It appeared Upperman would hold for the last shot but a foul sent the usually sure-shooting Lady Bees to the line with just over 20 second to go. However, it was not to be for the Bees as both shots clanged off the iron, giving the Lady Tigers a chance at the last shot. Following several passes, the ball ended up in Parsley’s hands. But, before she could put up a buzzer beater, she was fouled, sending her to the line with 1.6 seconds to go. Her first attempt bounced off the iron, leaving her facing one last shot for all the marbles. Swish. The shot from the charity stripe fell as did the Upperman hopes of hoisting another state champion trophy. DeKalb will face Macon County for the region title Wednesday night. Regardless, DeKalb has secured a berth in the sub-state with the Upperman win.
Parsley’s heroics wasn’t the only close call for the cardiac kids as they made it to the Upperman game by bouncing the tournament hosts in an instant classic.
A clutch three-pointer by Joni Robinson as regulation expired gave the Lady Tigers one last gasp – a gasp they used to topple the number eleven team in the state in overtime and move on to the second round of the regional tournament, topping Cumberland County 67-66.
The Lady Tigers traveled to Crossville Friday evening to challenge the 23-7 Lady Jets in a one versus four match-up. DeKalb ended up with the lowest seed from their district after being upset 41-39 by York in the consolation game of the District 8AA tourney at Tennessee Tech Monday. Meanwhile Crossville was the top of their district in the region and came into the game favored to win.
However, instead of being one-sided, the game ended up being a slug fest with the region foes going toe to toe the entire game. DeKalb came out swinging and took a 17-16 at the end of the first. They increased their advantage to 33-30 by half to the cheers of a large contingent of Lady Tiger fans who made the hour drive over to Crossville.
Cumberland County was able to wrestle the lead away from the Lady Tigers by the end of three, 43-41; however, the teams went back and forth through the final stanza, the game becoming physical as the seconds ticked away.
The home team was able to hold the advantage the last minute of the game until Robinson was able to knot the game at 60 as time expired. Tenacious defense by the Lady Tigers forced two key turnovers during overtime and allowed them to escape with the one point victory. The win is expecially sweet since Cumberland crushed the Lady Tigers by over 30 last year. Cumberland also had Miss Basketball Finalist Gracee Dishman who led all scorers Friday night with 32.
Four Lady Tigers finished in double digits. Lydia Brown led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 22, while Kadee Ferrell added 17, and Emme Colwell 11. Mya Ruch had 10, Joni Robinson 3, and Maddison Parsley and Kenzie France, both finished with points.
