Choctaws hold off Trojans, complete season sweep

The atmosphere was electric on Friday night at DCHS when the Choctaws and the Trojans took the court for Round 2 of their 2010 rivalry.

The first time the two rivals met in January the ballgame was well worth the price of admission.

Friday night was no different.

The scrappy Trojans went back and forth with the state-ranked Choctaws for the entire four quarters on Friday night, but a typical late Dyer County run allowed the Newbern squad to secure a hard-fought 61-56 victory.

"I knew we were going to be a little rusty after the long layoff," said Choctaw head coach Derek McCord. "The game wasn't played at the pace we like to play, but it was a great rivalry game."

The 13-day layoff for the Choctaws was obvious in the first quarter of the game, when Dyer County was held by to a season-low five points in the opening frame.

The Trojans didn't fare much better in the first quarter, but a late 3-pointer by Trey Walker gave Dyersburg a slim 8-5 advantage going in the second period.

With four minutes left until halftime, the Choctaws had only converted two field goals in the game, but the offensive rebounding of the Trojans allowed Dyersburg to push their lead to 15-9 halfway through the quarter.

The Choctaws put a run together in the final three minutes of the second quarter led by Koty Gross, who scored 10 of Dyer County's 19 first-half points.

The Trojans never quit battling, and went into the locker room tied up with Dyer County 19-19, the lowest first-half total for The Choctaws in the McCord era.

Both squads continued to battle it out in the second half, trading basket for basket, which led to six lead changes in the frame.

Trojan Winn Decker went to work in the third quarter, scoring 15 of his team-high 17 points in the frame, which kept Dyersburg in the game late.

Despite the back-and-forth action in the frame, the Choctaws put together two quick baskets late, which allowed Dyer County to take a 42-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Both teams continued to trade baskets in the fourth, with the game knotted at 53-53 with three minutes left on the clock.

The Choctaws outscored the Trojans 8-3 in the final three minutes on Friday, capped off by two huge free throws by Cedarius Taylor which allowed Dyer County to escape with a hard-fought victory.

"Our guys expect to win in the fourth quarter," said McCord. "We attacked the basket and made some plays."

The Trojans will look to rebound on Tuesday when the black and gold squad travels to Gibson County, while the Choctaws will travel to Union City on Tuesday.