Dangerfield hobbled as Lady Blaze begin title defense

MURFREESBORO – Crystal Dangerfield may not play at 100 percent this week in the TSSAA Girls Basketball Class AAA State Championships.

An ankle sprain sustained during Blackman's sectional win over Cumberland County on Monday may keep the Lady Blaze junior point guard and Connecticut commitment from being completely healthy.

But that won't keep her off the floor at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday when the top-ranked Lady Blaze (29-2) face fourth-ranked Mt. Juliet (31-2) in the state quarterfinals, which also serves as a rematch of last year's Class AAA semifinals.

Dangerfield, who suffered the injury in the first quarter, didn't return in Blackman's 75-47 win over the Lady Jets.

"It's still sore," Blackman coach Chad Hibdon said of his point guard's ankle. "She could have went in and played, but probably would have had more swelling and tenderness.

"She was able to get off of it and got 20 to 24 hours of rest before really doing anything. She'll be ready to go for (today)."

Blackman, the defending Class AAA state and national champions, defeated Mt. Juliet 55-46 in last year's semifinals. Blackman enters this meeting riding a 19-game win streak, while Mt. Juliet has a 22-game win streak. Both of the Lady Bears losses have come to District 7-AAA teams — 56-40 to Oakland on Nov. 13 and 53-48 to Stewarts Creek on Dec. 20.

The Lady Bears are led by sisters Ronjanae and Rae DeGray. Both are 6-foot post players and both have signed with Arkansas-Little Rock.

"They are tough," Hibdon said of the sisters. "They are big, strong and athletic. They are two really good players. They've improved their game from last year, and they were good last year. But they've been great this year."

Dangerfield leads the Lady Blaze with 15.4 points and 5.9 assists. Teammate Alex Johnson, who is a Miss Basketball finalist like Dangerfield, averages 14.9 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.

Johnson, a MTSU signee, and junior Jazz Bond will be key factors in slowing down the DeGray sisters.

Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.

TODAY'S GAME

No. 1 Blackman (29-2) vs. No. 4 Mt. Juliet (31-2)

When: 1:15 p.m.

Where: MTSU's Murphy Center

How much: $10 admission, $5 parking