Lady Cyclones Upend Dyersburg, Advances to Class 3A Semifinals; Greeneville Eliminated by Livingston Academy
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
March 7, 2023
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Elizabethton Lady Cyclones made the third quarter the decisive frame in a 66-54 victory over Dyersburg in the TSSAA Class 3A girls quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon at the Murphy Center.
Elizabethton notches its 20th consecutive win and logs its 40th victory of the season to advance Thursday’s semifinals. Meanwhile, region counterpart Greeneville led by as many as 16 points at one point before falling to Livingston Academy, 63-60, in the first game of the tournament.
The Lady Cyclones scored the first seven points of the second period to move ahead 20-12 and lead 27-20 at intermission. Ahead, 35-26, a Renna Lane three-pointer ignited an eight-point spurt to push Elizabethton’s lead to 43-26.
A Katie Lee layup with 5:27 to go had the Lady Cyclones up 49-34 and would be the last Elizabethton field goal of the day.
Dyersburg was able to stay within striking distance the rest of the way as Elizabethton made just 17-of-30 free throw in the final five-and-half minutes.
For the day, the Lady Cyclones made 23-of-38 attempts at the charity stripe to just 9-of-15 made by Dyersburg. The Lady Trojans made just 1-of-16 attempts from behind the line, but Elizabethton wasn’t much better, sinking just 3-of-17 tries, but did win the battle on the glass, 45-33.
Lina Lyon paced the Lady Cyclones with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. The senior floor leader also tallied three steals, three assists and five rebounds.
Marlee Mathena was also 6-of-9 from the field in scoring 18 points to go with a monster effort on the boards with 13. Renna Lane also contributed a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Reiley Whitson came off the Lady Cyclone bench to score eight points while Katie Lee finished with six.
Sophomore Joya Crawford scored 33 points for Dyersburg, but need 30 of the Lady Trojans’ 62 shot attempts on the day to get there. Netala Dixon finished with 13 points on 16 shots. Dyersburg went 22-for-62 from the field overall.
Dyersburg finishes its season at 20-12 and returns its entire roster for next year, including Crawford, who has already scored over 1,000 points in her career.
The Lady Cyclones (30-4) face unbeaten Jackson South Side (32-0) which won a brutal physical contest over defending state champion Upperman, 44-31, in a rematch of last year’s state title game that many across the state matched the top two teams this year.
DYERSBURG (54) – Chelby Jordan 1-5 0-0 2, Netala Dixon 6-16 1-2 13, Dakaya Holder 1-1 0-0 2, Aerie Quinn 0-2 0-0 0, Joya Crawford 12-30 8-13 33, Angela Hale 1-1 0-0 2, Kathleen Harrell 0-6 0-0 0, Nacey Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Maegan Cannon 0-0 0-0 0, Alyria Green 0-0 0-0 0, Taniyah McLin 0-0 0-0 0, Lillian Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Elizabethton Lemons 1-1 0-0 2, Jada Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Jasmine Jordan 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-62 9-15 54.
ELIZABETHTON (66) – Olivia Holly 0-6 1-2 1, Lina Lyon 6-9 7-16 19, Rena Lane 4-12 4-6 14, Marlee Mathena 6-9 6-8 18, Katie Lee 3-6 0-0 6, Maddie Fowler 0-2 0-0 0, Reiley Whitson 1-3 5-6 8, Totals 20-47 23-38 66.
Dyersburg | 12 | 8 | 9 | 25 | -- 54 |
Elizabethton | 13 | 14 | 16 | 23 | -- 66 |
Paint Points – Dyersburg 28, Elizabethton 28. 2nd Chance Points – Dyersburg 4, Elizabethton 11. Fast Break Points – Dyersburg 6, Elizabethton 6. Three-Pointers – Dyersburg 1-16 (C. Jordan 0-2, Dixon 0-2, Quinn 0-1, Crawford 1-5, Harrell 0-6), Elizabethton 3-17 (Holly 0-4, Lane 2-7, Lee 0-1, Fowler 0-2, Whitson 1-3). Rebounds – Dyersburg 33 (Dixon 8, C. Jordan 7, Crawford 5, Team 3, Quinn 3), Elizabethton 45 (Mathena 13, Lane 10, Lee 8, Whitson 5, Lyon 5, Team 3). Assists – Elizabethton 5 (Crawford 2, C. Jordan 2), Elizabethton 8 (Lyon 3). Steals – Dyersburg 6 (Crawford 3, C. Jordan 2), Elizabethton 4 (Lyon 3). Blocks – Dyersburg 1 (C. Jordan), Elizabethton 2 (Lane, Mathena). Turnovers – Dyersburg 8, Elizabethton 9. Total Fouls – Dyersburg 26, Elizabethton 14. Technical Fouls – none. Fouled Out – Dixon, Dyersburg; Canon, Dyersburg; Lemons, Dyersburg.
Livingston Academy 63, Greeneville 60
The Lady ‘Devils exploded out of the game to lead 18-5 after one period led by 16 early in the second before the Lady Wildcats rallied with an 18-4 advantage in the third quarter, to take a 40-36 edge going to the fourth.
Greeneville rallied for ties at 40-40 and 43-43 but could never retake the lead. Livingston never led by more than six the rest of the way.
Two free throws by Miss Basketball finalist Lauren Bailey got Greeneville to within one point at 61-60 with 11 seconds left to play. Livingston’s Ella Butler made one of two at the line leaving Greeneville with a go-ahead three-point attempt from the left wing for the win. But the shot wouldn’t go ending the Lady ‘Devils season at 27-9.
Livingston Academy (28-7) advances the first semifinal on Thursday to face South Gibson (27-9), a 46-28 victor over Dyer County (23-8).
GREENEVILLE (60) – Tambryn Ellenburg 3-9 0-0 9, Lauren Bailey 3-10 2-2 10, Lindy Carter 4-10 2-4 12, Chloe Marsh 2-6 4-5 8, Anna Shaw 2-4 1-2 5, Kyla Jobe 5-6 0-0 11, Dalaina Martin 1-2 3-4 5, Totals 20-47 12-17 60.
LIVINGSTON ACADEMY (63) – Halle Ledbetter 4-6 2-2 12, Aleah Melton 4-10 6-10 14, Keely Mullins 3-6 0-0 8, Mallie Coleman 4-7 7-12 15, Ellie Butler 3-14 7-8 14, Bailey Allred 0-0 0-0 0, Chloe Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 18-43 22-32 63.
Greeneville | 18 | 14 | 4 | 24 | -- 60 |
Livingston Academy | 5 | 17 | 18 | 23 | -- 63 |
Paint Points – Greeneville 14, Livingston Academy 22. 2nd Chance Points – Greeneville 7, Livingston Academy 10. Fast Break Points – Greeneville 5, Livingston Academy 10. Three-Pointers – Greeneville 8-18 (Ellenburg 3-9, Bailey 2-5, Carter 2-3, Jobe 1-1), Livingston Academy 5-16 (Ledbetter 2-3, Melton 0-5, Mullins 2-4, Butler 1-4). Rebounds – Greeneville 28 (Shaw 7, Marsh 6, Martin 4, Jobe 3, Team 3), Livingston Academy 30 (Ledbetter 10, Melton 5, Coleman 5, Butler 4, Mullins 3, Team 3). Assists – Greeneville 13 (Shaw 7, Ellenburg 2), Livingston Academy 9 (Butler 3, Coleman 3, Malton 2). Steals – Greeneville 4 (4 with 1), Livingston 7 (Coleman 3, Ledbetter 2). Blocks – Greeneville 2 (Marsh, Martin), Livingston Academy 8 (Ledbetter 8, Melton 3). Turnovers – Greeneville 14, Livingston Academy 10. Total Fouls – Greeneville 21, Livingston Academy 15. Technical Fouls – none. Fouled Out – Carter, Greeneville; Shaw, Greeneville; Melton, Livingston Academy.