Click here for photos.

The T.A. Dugger Jr. Lady Cyclones left it all on the court as they fell 41-32 to John Sevier Middle School, taking runner-up in the district championship held at Ross N. Robinson Middle school Thursday evening.

As the gym became full of energy, the Jr. Lady Cyclones, down 33-28 heading into the fourth, huddled up at their bench. Head coach Matt Fox, with eagerness in his eyes, told his girls to scream it if they mean it. Together they yelled, “One, Two, Three, Go Cyclones.”

And go they did. Within the first few seconds, of the final frame, TAD’s Bayley McGee sunk a bucket to put the Cyclones behind 30-33. The Jr. Lady Cyclones fought hard. If a Sevier player had the ball, you could bet a Cyclone was chasing after to steal the it.

“We are little,” Fox said about the height of his girls. “We are not as big as John Sevier, but I have a great bunch of girls. They played with heart.”

The room filled with the cheers of TAD fans as Cyclones’ Kaylen Shell drove down the court, after a steal and a pass from Kaitlyn Light, and laid the ball in to put the Lady Cyclones behind by one at 33-32 with four minutes left in the game.

However, the Jr. Lady Indians regrouped and brought the ball down the court. The point guard found Sevier’s Jaden Fullen, who towered over her opponents, under the goal. She spun around and connected for two and a trip to the foul line, for which she missed, pushing Sevier’s lead to 35-32. This spelled the end of the Jr. Lady Cyclones’ chance at a win as the Indians closed out the game with a six point drive. The Jr. Lady Cyclones fired off many shots from outside the three-point arc but could not connect.

“The girls went into it willingly,” Fox said. “They were ready to go after it. I am very proud of them. Nobody likes to go runner-up, but they played really well and I am very proud of them. Like I said, they are a great group of girls. They played with heart. They played aggressive. They did everything that I asked of them.”

The fourth quarter came after a highly contested third period. Coming out of half time down 25-16, TAD hustled as they fought to even themselves with Sevier. Midway though the frame, McGee busted a three to put TAD trailing by six, with Sevier up 29-23. After a another basket from Sevier, McGee snatched a steal and fed the ball to Shell who made an easy layup. With one minute left in the third, Shell made another fast break to close the gap with Sevier up 33-27.

“We talked a lot about boxing out,” Fox said about what he told the girls at halftime. “We talked about rebounding and keeping the ball in our possession. I noticed that John Sevier got a little tired at times, so I told my guards to keep pushing the ball and keep the game up tempo.”

Shell led the Jr. Lady Cyclones in points as she posted 12. She was followed up by McGee, who totaled 8. McGee and Shell both received all-tournamnet honors.

This was the fourth time that TAD (16-8) had loss to Sevier, which is now 24-1 after taking first place in the district tournament.

“I think it’s hard anytime you play a team four times to win all of the games, especially against a team like T.A. Dugger,” Sevier head coach Schaun Potts said. “I think they are very well coached. I think they were peaking at the right time at the end of the season. They are a tough match up because of their shooting guards.”

Sevier was led in scoring by Courtney Whitson, who had 19. Helping her along was Fullen with 11.

Next up for the Jr. Lady Cyclones is the area tournaments, where they will face off against Johnson County at John Sevier Middle School.

 

Sevier 41

Whitson 19, Fullen 11, White 7, Garst 2, Chapman 2

T.A. Dugger 32

Shell 12, McGee 8, Light 6, Townsend 2,Edwards 3 Hyatt 1,

Sevier 16 10 8 8 — 41

T.A Dugger 10 6 12 4 — 32

3-point goals—S 2 (Garst 1, White 1) TAD 3 (Light 2, Edwards 1)