How Joya Crawford overcame sickness to hit Dyersburg's game-winning shot for TSSAA title

MURFREESBORO – Joya Crawford had her Michael Jordan moment.

Then she finished the evening with the gold ball trophy coming home to Dyersburg.

Crawford scored 10 points, including a pull-up jumper with less than a minute remaining to give the Trojans the lead and eventual 41-39 victory over Upperman in the TSSAA Class 3A girls basketball state championship game Saturday at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center.

The day started with Crawford and three of her teammates not feeling well along with two members of the coaching staff. They believe food poisoning from bad pizza was the culprit the night before.

"MJ did it, so I thought I could do it," said Crawford, a Cincinnati commitment, referring to Michael Jordan's flu game in the 1997 NBA finals when he scored 38 points in 44 minutes and hit the game winner with 25 seconds left. "That's the truth, so I said I could do it too."

Dyersburg (31-4) finished the season with wins over Jackson South Side and Cocke County in the state tournament.

The state title is the first in Dyersburg history. The Trojans finished runner-up in 2005.

Crawford was the lone sick starter, but other key players got sick, as well as Dyersburg coach Tim Strayhorn.

"I don't know about them, but I was sick as a dog," Strayhorn said. "... I was thinking, we're about to play for a state championship. I'm not going to make it."

Dyersburg's title came in Strayhorn's third season as coach. Dyersburg won six games his first season and lost in the state quarterfinals in 2023 before winning it this season.

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Crawford didn't participate in the bulk of Dyersburg's warm ups prior to the game. Instead she sat on the bench, her body hunch over resting. She shot 4-of-9 from the field with two 3-pointers and was named the Class 3A tournament's MVP.

Dyersburg led by as much as six in the third quarter and led by five with 3:13 remaining. But Upperman (30-7) battled back, tied it and took a 39-38 lead on Isabella Mullins layup with over a minute remaining.

Crawford then came back, hitting a short jumper and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but teammate Netalya Dixon rebounded it and hit a free throw with 47 seconds left. Dyersburg's defense clamped down the final seconds, keeping Upperman from getting a good shot.

"(Crawford) goes down and gets an and-one," Upperman coach Dana McWilliams said. "It was a great shot."