The DeKalb Lady Tigers and Tigers split a pair of games with neighboring Cannon County Friday night as they played host to the Lions and Lionettes, dropping the opener but taking a commanding win in the closer.
Cannon County Lionettes 61
DeKalb County Lady Tigers 47
The Lady Tigers almost got skunked in the first quarter, if not for Emme Colwell dialing long distance to put DeKalb on the board, albeit it made for a comeback road, down 14-3. The Lady Tigers shook off some of the first-quarter jitters but still trailed 32-17 at the break.
“We didn’t play very well, we got outplayed, outcoached. We didn’t match their intensity to start the game and they were able to sit on that lead for the entire game,” said DCHS Lady Tiger Head Coach Danny Fish. “Just not a very good performance by us tonight. I’m disappointed in the kids; I’m very disappointed in our preparation so that falls on me and the coaches.
“But at the same time the kids didn’t quit, they kept playing the entire game,” Fish said. “But we didn’t do enough things right to get back into the game and did just enough things wrong to lose it. We didn’t do a very good job protecting the ball … we just didn’t do a very good job. That’s what happens with a young team. We didn’t come out of the gates very well. We had a big crowd and that deer in headlights look and just didn’t perform well.”
DeKalb had its best performance in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 points in the final eight minutes with Colwell heading up the Lady Tiger offense with 15 points. It wasn’t enough to close the gap; however, and the Lionettes had a 14-point advantage at the buzzer.
Distributing the basketball well, eight DeKalb players posted points in the contest. Lydia Brown scored 11 points, Mya Ruch 6, Joni Robinson 5, Kenzi France 4 and Madison Parsley, Megan Walker and Mallori Hart all scored 2 points apiece.
Maleah Scott was the game-high scorer for Cannon County with 21 points.
DeKalb County Tigers 81
Cannon County Lions 52
The DeKalb Tigers were in the zone Friday night, showing poise and confidence in themselves going down the stretch as they bested the Lions handily.
Distributing the basketball well, nine DeKalb players added to the total tally with five breaking double digits.
Shooting a deadly outside game across the offense, the Tigers hit for 16 shots outside the arc. Marshall Evins and Tanner Poss both hit four 3-point shots, Nathan Atkins and Colter Norris hit 3 apiece and Austin Johnson, Brayden Howard and Josh Carlton rounded out the outside game with one 3-point shot each.
Evins led the offense with a game-high 18 points, Poss 14, Atkins 13, Norris 11, Trey Jones 10, Howard 5, Dallas Cook 4 and Johnson and Carlton scored 3-points apiece.
“It was a great effort,” Said DeKalb Tigers Head Coach Linus Martin. “We’ve been shooting the ball well. We shoot a lot of threes and have been making a lot of threes.
“The best thing about it is how we shared the ball,” Martin said. “We’ve been very unselfish with the ball lately, passing it giving up shots to another kid and that’s team basketball. When you see it ,you know you’ve got it. It makes everybody better and you play harder when you get rewarded and that’s what it’s about."
"We’ve been playing well. We lost to York on a last-minute shot and that’s a first-place team so we know we’re getting close. We’ve got four tough games left and the tournaments coming up so it’s a good time to be playing good,” the coach added.
