Bryant leads Dresden girls to 13-A title game

MCKENZIE — Crisp Arena might quickly become Dresden senior Millie Bryant's favorite place to play basketball.

She recently committed to play college basketball at Bethel University, who uses Crisp Arena as its home floor, and on Thursday night, she scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Lady Lions to the District 13-A title game.

Dresden held off two late chances by Gleason to tie the game to win 29-27.

"We needed to win, and I wanted to do whatever we needed to get the win," Bryant said.

Dresden (24-6) advances to play Huntingdon in the title game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Gleason (27-5) will play Clarksburg in the consolation game at 6 p.m.

Both teams struggled to score in this matchup between Weakley County rivals.

"It was a hard-fought game," Dresden coach Jonathan West said. "At times, it seemed like neither team wanted to win. Both teams made a lot of mistakes, and they were mistakes that they don't normally make. These kids know each other, and with the rivalry and setting, it was tough."

Part of that was good defense, and the Lady Lions executed their defensive game plan throughout the game. Gleason struggled to find inside shots through most of the game.

"Our defense was the difference tonight," Bryant said. "We were in our spots, and we kept their main scorers from scoring."

But offensively, it was the Bryant show for Dresden as she hit key shots in the clutch.

Bryant hit a 3 late in the first half to put her team up 17-11, nailed a 3 to open the third quarter for the 20-13 lead and sank a 3 to open the fourth quarter for the 25-17 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs did go on a run late as a Kelsey Borneman 3-pointer cut Dresden's lead to three with 5:12 left (25-22) and a basket by Mahlese McDonald cut the Dresden lead to two with 2:14 left (27-25).

"We didn't do as well as I would have liked on their drive, and I think we missed six wide-open layups," West said. "Both teams played hard."

Trailing by two with 37 seconds to go, Gleason had two opportunities to tie the game, but Dresden rebounded the first attempt and the ball rolled out of bounds at the buzzer on the second attempt.

"We had to take care of the ball and make free throws," Bryant said. "It is awesome to be back in the title game because we have been all four years now."

Lillian Nichols led Gleason with 12 points.

Huntingdon 76,

Clarksburg 42

The Fillies (21-3) cruised in the other semifinal to reach the title game as the top seed. They led 20-13 after one quarter before outscoring Clarksburg 17-4 in the second quarter to take a 37-17 halftime lead.

Alli Jones led Huntingdon with 21 points, while Taylor Smith added 13 points.

Clarksburg (11-15) was led by Mikayla Peterson with 11 points.

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.