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Lady Tigers start district tournament Wednesday
1 - girls v macon.JPG
Mallori Hart takes the ball to the hoop against Macon County this past week in DeKalb’s loss to last year’s state runner-up. The Lady Tigers concluded their season in third place in the district and will play in the first round of the district tournament at Cookeville High School tonight at 6 p.m.

The Lady Tigers rebounded nicely with a 58-34 win over Smith County after falling to last year’s state runner up as Macon County, 63-32.

The Lady Tigers never got out of the gate against Macon as they were still reeling from their loss the game before by defending state champions, Upperman. The back-to-back games against the two teams who vied for the state title last year proved too much as the Lady Tigers found themselves in a 24-11 hole by half, scoring just a single bucket in the second quarter. Kadee Ferrell was the only Lady Tiger in double figures as she led her team with 15 on the night with Mya Ruch adding nine and Mallori Hart, 4.

The issue for the home-standing Lady Tigers proved to be establishing a consistent offensive threat as Macon County smothered DeKalb’s outside shooting and allowed for very few second shots as they also controlled the boards on both ends. The inability to put the ball in the basket left the Lady Tigers with a seven point third quarter and a 42-18 disadvantage going into the final period, a disadvantage that proved insurmountable.

Kadee Ferrell jumper
Kadee Ferrell takes a fall away jumper in action earlier this season. She had 15 against McMinn Central to help send the Lady Tigers to State.

It only took the Lady Tigers two days to bounce back as they returned to their home confines to complete a sweep of Smith County, 58-34, this time not taking overtime to get the job done as happened in Carthage earlier this season.

The Lady Tiger win as four DeKalb hoopsters finished with double digits. Lydia Brown led her team to victory with 14 while Joni Robinson had a big game with 13. Emme Cowell had 12 and Kadee Ferrell had 11. The win concluded district play for the Lady Tigers as they finished 10-4 in District 8AA and nail down the third seed in the district.

The Lady Tigers are set to meet the winner of the six versus seven game. They will play Wednesday, Feb 13 at Cookeville High School at 6 p.m. Should they win they will play Macon County at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville at 4 p.m. this Friday. However, a win Wednesday night would place them in the regional tournament regardless of how they fare against Macon. A loss Wednesday ends their season.