Sports

A 37-point first-quarter effort by the Lady Choctaws set the tone for Dyer County’s Region 7AAA Quarterfinal matchup with Cordova as the orange and white girls cruised to a 95-46 win over the Lady Wolves on Friday night in Newbern to advance in the Region 7AAA Tournament.

For the second time in three seasons, the Dyersburg girls saw their season come to a heartbreaking end on the road at Lexington in the Region 7AA Quarterfinals as a pair of Kyla Taylor free throws with 25 seconds left put the Lady Tigers on top as the Lady Trojans were unable to convert on their next possession to lose 37-36, ending Dyersburg’s season in overtime on Friday night...

We’re getting closer and closer to the end of the Road to Murfreesboro as the high school basketball season begins to draw to a close as fewer and fewer teams throughout Tennessee find themselves competing to advance down the path to MTSU in March. The quarterfinals of the region can bring more than its share of dramatic wins and heartbreaking losses as the first two rounds of the region are win-or-go home games...

JASON PEEVYHOUSE jpeevyhouse@stategazette.com With the end of basketball season approaching with regional and state tournament action coming over the next couple of weeks, the spring sports season will soon be upon the schools in the TSSAA as soccer fans can get a first look of what to expect this season for both Dyersburg and Dyer County this Saturday...

The road to Murfreesboro and the TSSAA Basketball State Tournaments takes a serious turn tonight as region quarterfinal action gets underway across the state as teams put their seasons on the line in hopes of advancing in their respective class’ field of now 64 teams to the next round and one step closer to the goal they have been working for since the preseason.

After a pair of buzzer beaters against Munford during the regular season battles with the Cougars, Dyer County was unable to rally for a third time against their rivals from Tipton County as Munford pulled away late to hold off the Choctaws for a 63-58 win over Dyer County in the District 13AAA Tournament final on Tuesday night at Brighton High School.

When the regular season district slate ended, it took a coin toss to finally decide the standings as the teams headed into the girls’ postseason tournament – with Dyer County winning the toss. Fittingly, on the final night of the Girls’ District 13AAA Tournament in Brighton on Monday night, it took an extra period for things to be decided as the Lady Choctaws dominated the extra frame to take a 73-63 win over the hosting Lady Cardinals.

Coming off an 8-0 regular season in district play, the Choctaws secured their chance to play for the postseason title to go with their regular season District 13AAA crown tonight as they used a strong second quarter to pull away from Liberty and take a 76-61 win over the Crusaders on Saturday evening in the semifinals of the 13AAA Tournament in Brighton...

After a less than ideal performance in the semifinals two days earlier, the Dyersburg girls bounced back from that disappointing loss to take third place in the District 13AA Tournament with a 51-28 win over Obion County Central on Saturday night in the Terry Glover Gymnasium at Dyersburg High School.

With the high school basketball season winding down as the calendar heads toward the final days of February, it will soon be time for the various spring sports which comprise the final third of the TSSAA sports year to take center stage as the teams began their preseason workouts this past week.

The 2018 First Citizens National Bank First Pitch Banquet and Silent Auction will take place Saturday, March 9 at the West Dyersburg Church of Christ. The fifth annual banquet will feature former Mississippi State outfielder Mark Goforth as the guest speaker...

With this past week ending on a colder and wetter note than many would like, it’s no wonder people may be thinking about the coming of spring. Hopefully, this will happen when the calendar says it will be here in a little over a month, but I won’t hold my breath for good temperatures until around my birthday in April...

A combination of 13 turnovers and a 28-percent night of shooting from the field brought the Lady Trojans’ quest for the District 13AA Tournament Championship to an end on Thursday night as Crockett County pulled away in the second half to take the 44-29 win over Dyersburg in the tournament semifinals.

JASON PEEVYHOUSE jpeevyhouse@stategazette.com Just over a week after taking the court for the last time in the regular season, both Dyer County teams will be in action on Saturday as the two squads travel down to Brighton to open the District 13AAA Tournament as part of a big day with four games on the slate...

Despite the Trojans holding a seven-point lead heading into the final eight minutes, Milan went on a pair of scoring tears in the fourth quarter to take the lead then held off Dyersburg’s last-minute comeback bid to take a 67-62 win over the black and gold and end the Trojans’ season in the quarterfinals of the District 13AA Tournament in the Terry Glover Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

JASON PEEVYHOUSE jpeevyhouse@stategazette.com Like many high school seniors, when Dyer County’s Chase Bailey entered his final prep season, the Choctaw lineman knew he wanted to play football at the next level. On Tuesday, that desire became a reality as Bailey signed to continue his gridiron career at Bethel University in McKenzie...

After a dominating win over the Lady Bulldogs to end the regular season just three days earlier in the Terry Glover Gymnasium, the Dyersburg girls opened the postseason in impressive fashion over the same Milan girls team by jumping out to a big lead early on the way to a 62-26 win in the quarterfinals of the District 13AA Tournament in Dyersburg.

The Dyer County coed cheerleaders were reminded just how subjective the sport of competitive cheerleading can be this past weekend as, despite having no deductions during their performances in the 2019 UCA High School Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Fla., the orange and white cheer team finished fourth in the nation in the Large Coed division.

With the end of the regular season upon them and the benefit of having the postseason road go through Dyersburg’s Terry Glover Gymnasium, the Trojans did find themselves in a bit of a dogfight against Milan on Friday night in the regular season finale before building a double-digit lead in the final eight minutes then holding off the Bulldogs for a 61-53 win.

With the end of the regular season coming this past Friday and the brackets being decided on the final night, the postseason begins for teams in District 13AA on Monday and Tuesday nights as four teams will put their seasons on the line each night at satellite locations for spots in the district semifinals later this week at Dyersburg High School.

The end of another regular season has now come and we begin the Road to Murfreesboro this week as teams from both Dyersburg and Dyer County will take to the courts in their attempts to advance to state tournament action. While Dyer County’s boys are the District 13AAA champion and know they will be facing the winner of the play-in game, the girls bracket is a little more complicated. ...

When Dyersburg High School standout linebacker Chris Russell, Jr. put the white Texas A&M cap on during the announcement ceremony on Wednesday’s National Signing Day in the DHS Little Theater, it brought to close the final chapter in the story of where the Trojan senior would play at the college level.

With friends, teammates, coaches and family eagerly awaiting to hear from him on Wednesday afternoon as part of National Signing Day in the Little Theater at Dyersburg High School, Trojan football standout Chris Russell, Jr. sat behind a table flanked by his parents with members of the DHS coaching staff watching on from behind as two hats sat in front of him.

After a senior season in which he was a major part of the Choctaw offense, Dyer County running back Jefhry Taylor signed on Wednesday to continue his football career at the college level as he is choosing to play at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Ky.

While many high school seniors throughout Tennessee and around the nation played their final football games last fall and some will continue their careers in college via scholarship, some players, like Aron Whittle will get a chance to keep playing by signing with colleges under preferred walk-on status as Whittle did this on Wednesday morning with Arkansas State.

With the final week of the regular season upon teams in District 13AA, the Dyersburg Trojans made things more interesting ahead of the teams’ conference finales on Friday as the black and gold answered a first-quarter run with one of their own, then only trailed Westview one more time before taking a 47-40 win over the Chargers on the district leader’s homecourt in Martin on Tuesday night.

Though the Choctaws were able to overcome a narrow halftime deficit to lead after three quarters on Monday night in Millington, the Trojans answered in the fourth quarter as a pair of Millington runs in the final eight minutes led to a 72-64 loss by the Dyer County boys...

Momentum swung freely in the second half of Friday night’s regular season District 13AAA finale for the Choctaws as Dyer County rallied from a halftime deficit to take a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter – only to have to fend off a similar comeback from Brighton before a steal in the closing seconds by Tray Swift sealed the orange and white’s 61-59 win in Newbern.

What was it I said last week about district games making you look forward to the postseason? Well, lightning struck twice as for the second straight Friday night I left a gym after watching two teams - this time Dyer County and Brighton - battle for a District 13AAA win...

The Lady Trojans picked up their second district win of the week on Friday night thanks to a strong opening quarter as well as dominating performance in the third quarter to take a 64-34 win over South Gibson to celebrate Homecoming 2019. Led by seven points from K.K. Howard and six more by Bre Howard, the Lady Trojans jumped out in front early and took a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter...

Coming into the 2018-19 basketball season with only one senior on the roster and no sophomores suiting up for the Choctaws heading into the year, it was going to be a given that a lot was going to fall on the junior class during the course of the year.

The beginning of Tuesday night’s District 13AA matchup in Troy between Dyersburg and Obion County Central was not an indication of what was to come later as the Trojans found themselves trailing by double figures out of the gates.

With the district season winding down as the regular season begins to draw to a close, both Dyer County teams picked up important District 13AAA wins on Tuesday night at Liberty Tech in Jackson. In the nightcap, Dyer County’s Tray Swift and Ethan Tolbert led the way in the Choctaws’ 70-53 win over the Crusaders which clinched the District 13AAA title for the Choctaws...

The Three Oaks Lady Choctaws’ run through the TMSAA Section 3 Class AA Tournament came to a heartbreaking end on Monday night at Northview as the unbeaten orange and white girls suffered their first and only loss as they fell in overtime 54-51 to Martin Middle School in Newbern.

With a two-point lead at the half, the DMS Trojans were able to withstand a Milan surge in the third quarter before going on an 8-0 run in the final minutes to clinch the program’s first Blue Suede Invitational Class AA Tournament title since 2016 with a 40-36 win over Milan on Saturday afternoon at South Gibson High School in Medina.

With the Lady Choctaw cross country program in the midst of a lengthy stretch of state tournament appearances which continued this season, Christian Brothers University will benefit from Dyer County’s success in girls cross country as Lady Choctaw senior Jenna Robbins will continue her running career as a Lady Buccaneer next season.

The Lady Trojans battled back and forth through a competitive fourth quarter on Friday night in the Terry Glover Gymnasium but it was the Lady Cavaliers that landed the last few punches, ending the game on a 10-0 run to take a 57-50 win over Dyersburg in District 13AA action.

Despite trailing by nine heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Choctaws rallied from the near double-figure deficit to take the lead late, only to have Hardin County force overtime where the Lady Tigers rallied to end the game on a 13-0 run to escape with a 64-55 win over the Dyer County girls...

While the results were not what fans here locally would have wanted, this writer has one big takeaway from the games between Crockett County and Dyersburg on Friday night in a packed Terry Glover Gymnasium. I kind of got the feeling something special was ahead for fans, players, coaches and, well, anyone who walked through the doors for the District 13AA matchups before even getting into the gymnasium myself...

After a strong second-half effort on Thursday night at South Gibson High School in Medina, the Dyersburg Middle School boys have punched their ticket to the Blue Suede Invitational Class AA Tournament Championship game with a 53-48 win over Chester County win in the semifinals.

Both local teams will close the week tonight and there will be a lot on the line in the way of district standings as both Dyersburg and Dyer County square off in second meetings of conference opponents.

Middle school teams from all over West Tennessee will converge on Newbern beginning this Saturday as Northview Middle School will host the TMSAA Section 3 Tournament for Class AA with both girls and boys action taking place at the school through Thursday.

Ever since sitting down with Dyersburg High School’s Chris Russell last Friday, many have asked the question, where is he going to go? Well, while the question is simple enough, the answer is pretty complicated because…I don’t have any idea. What I’d like to inform those interested in the future home of perhaps the most sought-after student-athlete football player since Jimmy Noonan back in the ‘70s, is I firmly believe Russell himself is still mulling over the offers on the table from a couple of SEC juggernauts.. ...

After finishing as the runner-up last season in the TMSAA Small Area Girls Tournament, the Three Oaks Lady Choctaws got back to the top of the mountain on Tuesday night at Lake County Middle School, defeating county-rival Northview 51-23 for this year’s tournament championship...

The Dyer County Youth Basketball League continued its second season on Saturday with a full slate of games in Newbern. Here is a look at the statistics from Jan. 19 action: Knicks (Cotrell Electric) 12, Lakers (Styles on Broadway) 7 Knicks: KJ Brown 12, Canin Chandler, Austin Watford, Reed Watford, Jake Matthews, Jaden Hannah, Brent Quinton...

Four quarters were not enough to contain the action between Dyersburg and the Arlington boys on Tuesday night in the Terry Glover Gymnasium, but it was all Trojans in the extra period as the black and gold outscored the Tigers 15-9 in the OT to take a 55-49 win in non-district action.

For the second time in 14 days, a basketball game between the Dyer County and Munford boys came down to a last-second shot and, for the second time in as many games, the Choctaws walked away from the District 13AAA matchup with a win as a Jarrod Halliburton putback at the buzzer gave Dyer County a 41-40 victory on the road on the Cougars homecourt...

The DMS Lady Trojans trailed at the end of the first quarter by a lone point, but bounced back over the final three frames to take a 48-37 win over Milan in the semifinals of the Blue Suede Invitational Tournament at South Gibson High School on Monday night in Medina...

After opening the weekend with a 12-point win over visiting Motlow State which put them in a tie with the Bucks for first in the TJCCAA, Dyersburg State’s men held onto that tie on Saturday evening with a 124-114 win over Volunteer State in Dyersburg.