After a buzzer beating shot by Choctaw Rex Pierce in the final second of Wednesday nights opening round match-up against Christian Presbyterian Academy, which caused a lot of controversy throughout the entire State of Tennessee, the Dyer County Choctaws punched their ticket for their second consecutive final four appearance in Murfreesboro. Many believed Pierce's last second shot was not released behind the three-point line and some believe the officials put to much time on the clock in the closing seconds of the game, leading to the final shot. Nevertheless,

Dyer County advanced over CPA and earned their right to move on to the final four. The Choctaws met Knoxville-Fulton, a team that matched up with them athletically in the final four Friday afternoon for the right to play in the state championship game Saturday evening.

The game lived up to the hype as the evenly matched teams put on a great show for the large crowd in attendance, with Fulton taking a double overtime victory over the Choctaws 86-79.

"I'm very proud of my guys, they left it all on the court today," said Dyer County head coach Derek McCord. The game got started in similar fashion for the Choctaws with Mr. Basketball finalist Justin Blake opening the scoring with a bucket off the opening tip. Fulton answered back quickly with a deep ball from Dominic Minor, who scored 12 points alone in the first half giving them a quick 3-2 lead out of the gate.

Foul trouble was an issue in the first half and would haunt them in the end, with Blake, Parr and Pierce all picking up three fouls in the first half. The Choctaws still had trouble shooting from the field with a 39 percent shooting percentage in the first half compared to 45 percent by Fulton. After a very competitive and exciting first half, the two teams were knotted at 37-37 going into the halftime break.

The two respected squads continued to trade baskets in the third quarter with neither team going up more than four points on the other before a three pointer by Falcon Jalen Steele put Fulton up seven with a minute left in the frame. The Choctaws responded with back to back baskets by Jeremy Kimble and C.J. Crittendon and a put in by Taylor to cut the Falcon lead to 53-50 at the end of the third quarter.

Both teams continued battling back and forth in the final frame with neither team ready to put the nail in their season, and it showed on the court. With six different lead changes in the frame, neither team could put the other away. After a three-pointer by Crittendon, who had a game high 31 points on the afternoon, the Choctaws had a four point lead with two minutes remaining in the game. After a steal and put back by Steele, who contributed 27 points on the night, the game was tied at 65-56 with 45 seconds remaining. The Choctaws had the ball with 45 seconds remaining in the game, but a five second call on Crittendon gave the ball back to the Falcons with eight seconds left in the game. The Falcons brought the ball up court, but the Choctaws tough defense forced Falcon Shannon Hollingswort out of bounds and gave Dyer County a chance with three seconds remaining to pull another trick out of their hat like Wednesday night. The Choctaws got the ball up court and into the hands of Taylor who got a good shot off that rimmed out and sending the game to overtime. In overtime, both teams traded baskets until a lay-up by Falcon Will Bryant gave Fulton a three point lead at 71-68 with 38 seconds remaining. After a timeout by coach McCord, the Choctaws set a play for Blake in the corner who knocked down the deep ball despite shooting just 4-15 from behind the line on the night and sending the game into its second overtime.

In the second overtime both teams continued to play with every bit of intensity as in the opening minutes of the game. The Choctaws were down 75-73 before Blake picked up his fifth and final foul, sending him to the bench for the rest of the game. "We got good shots, they just rimmed out for us all night," said McCord. The Falcons connected on 12-14 free throws in the second overtime, giving them the double overtime thrilling victory over the No. 1 ranked Choctaws of Dyer County.

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The Choctaws finish the season with an outstanding record of 32-2, including a district championship and a regional championship, not to mention going undefeated in district play this season. "I love these guys, we just got the short end of the stick tonight," said Crittendon.

The Choctaws will return home after they find out if Blake is this years Mr. Basketball for the state of Tennessee. "For a small town team with no big man, I think we did a great job this year, especially this week," said McCord.