Lady Tigers State Tournament Bound!

March 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Lady Tigers are bound for the TSSAA Class AA State Tournament after defeating the McMinn Central Chargerettes 44 to 42 at Englewood Saturday night in the sub-state or sectionals.

It’s the first trip to the state tournament for a DCHS Lady Tiger basketball team since 1965.

DeKalb County, one of eight teams in the Class AA Girls State Tournament, will play on Wednesday, March 6 at MTSU in Murfreesboro either at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:15 p.m., or at 2:45 p.m. The exact time and opponent have not yet been determined. WJLE plans LIVE coverage

(The DCHS Lady Tigers, coaches, and cheerleaders got a rousing send-off Saturday afternoon as they departed for the sub-state game at McMinn Central in Englewood)

IMG_4644 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

The game was close throughout as the Lady Tigers led 10 to 7 after the 1st period but trailed 19 to 17 at halftime. DeKalb County held a 32 to 30 edge after the 3rd period and went on to win 44 to 42.

Lydia Brown scored 16, Kadee Ferrell 15, Maddison Parsley 7, and Emme Colwell 6.

The Lady Tigers improve to 23-11 on the season. McMinn Central closes out their season at 20-14.

Members of the 1964-65 DeKalb County team included Betty Carol Fite (who is a sister to Lydia Brown’s grandmother), Brenda Cripps, Elaine Harvey, Judy Young, Wanda Williams, Sherry Frazier, Kay Davis, Betty Evins (Kadee Ferrell’s grandmother), and Katherine Wright among others. Harold Luna was the coach (Luna is Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish’s great uncle)

In the 1965 State Tournament the  DeKalb County Tigerettes (as they were known then) defeated Walland 40 to 38 and Hillsboro 61 to 42 but lost to Sevier County 37 to 34 and to Bradley Central 49 to 34.

According to TSSAA,  DeKalb County also made state tournament appearances in girls basketball in 1959, 1928, and 1926 and finished as the state champion runner-up in 1959.

March 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Lady Tigers, coaches, and cheerleaders got a rousing send-off Saturday afternoon as they departed for the sub-state game at McMinn Central in Englewood tonight.

IMG_4644 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

Excited family, friends, and fans gathered at the high school and cheered members of the program who filed passed them before boarding a charter bus for the trip. There was also a balloon release and Darrell Gill was on hand to sound his train horn as he does during DCHS football games The Smithville Police and Sheriff’s Departments including Sheriff  Patrick Ray accompanied the bus in a motorcade from the high school down West Broad before turning onto Cookeville Highway. As the bus left the city limits, Sheriff Ray continued the escort to Interstate 40.

IMG_4651 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

The Lady Tigers (22-11) are enroute to meet the McMinn Central Lady Chargers (20-13). Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. (eastern time) which is 6:00 p.m. Smithville time. The winner will advance to the state tournament next week. WJLE will have LIVE coverage of tonight’s game with the Voice of the Lady Tigers John Pryor. Our pre-game show, Tiger Talk will air at 5:40 p.m. featuring Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish and Lady Tiger seniors Lydia Brown, Maddison Parsley, and Joni Robinson.

IMG_3140 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

Fans making the trip can view a google map on the WJLE website sports page for directions.

March 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

It’s been decades since the DeKalb County High School Lady Tiger basketball program has made an appearance in the state tournament but a win tonight (Saturday) and they are in.

IMG_4614 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

The Lady Tigers (22-11) will travel to Englewood Tennessee to meet the McMinn Central Lady Chargers (20-13) in a sub-state or sectionals game. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. (eastern time) which is 6:00 p.m. Smithville time. WJLE will have LIVE coverage with the Voice of the Lady Tigers John Pryor. Our pre-game show, Tiger Talk will air at 5:40 p.m. featuring Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish and Lady Tiger seniors Lydia Brown, Maddison Parsley, and Joni Robinson.

Fans making the trip can view a google map on the WJLE website sports page for directions.

A group of boosters and fans will gather at DCHS today (Saturday) at noon and you are invited to join them to cheer on the team and coaches as they depart for their trip by charter bus at 12:30 p.m.

Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish sizes up the showdown tonight. “They (Lady Chargers) are good. (Coach) Johnny Morgan has been there for years. Traditionally they are the Livingston and Jackson County from that area. For the past 30-40 years they have been really good. They have been in this game fourteen straight years. They have some good players but they are not big. They are about the same size as us and maybe a little bit smaller in some positions. I think their game is a lot like ours and their season has been a lot like ours. They are playing their best ball right now. In the region they beat a pretty good team in Signal Mountain and then defeated Meigs County (29-3) for the region championship and Meigs was ranked #1 by the AP at the time. We’ll be playing a very good team and in a hostile environment so we’ll have to play our best game to move on. Hopefully we will score one more point than they do,” he said.

Listen LIVE tonight on WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7 or LIVE stream at www.wjle.com