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)
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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.