Only a select few teams end their season with a victory. The Lady Broncos are one of those squads.

Boyd completed its season with a 3-0 run in the NACA National Tournament in Dayton last week. The Lady Broncos blew out Wade Christian Academy from Florida 57-35 Wednesday, then picked up back-to-back wins over Living Water Christian School from North Carolina 49-42 and 50-49.

Thrilling wins, exciting moments and lifelong memories are things the Lady Broncos were able to live with, but a NACA banner – something the school has been wanting to add to the rafters again since winning the tourney in 2017 – still eluded the group. Due to a quirky rule in the tourney setup, where the officials decided to pick the teams for the championship game based on the number of quarters won in bracket play, Boyd never had a chance to play for the title.

The Lady Broncos instead left the tourney with a third-place trophy despite never losing. Mount Pisgah was crowned the champion, while Maryville Christian (2-1 over three games) was named the runner-up.

“I’m my mind, we’re No.1 and the NACA champions,” said Boyd coach Tim Page, who guided his team to 22 wins this season, including 13 victories in the last 14 contests. “I’ve never participated in a tournament – as a coach or as an athlete – where a team that went undefeated didn’t win it. We didn’t even have a chance to play for the title.

“Ever since we lost in overtime last year in the finals, we have been on a mission to come back and make sure we won all our games in Dayton. Our girls did everything I’ve asked of them and left it all on the court. They never lost - They were let down by the organization of the event.”

Boyd (22-13) was pushed into Division 4 this year, getting a bump by the NACA organizers who deemed the Lady Broncos were ready for a step up in competition after playing in Division 5 for years. Boyd was more than up for the challenge. 

The Lady Broncos found their rhythm early Wednesday, dismantling Wade with their trademark press and sharpshooting from deep. Miranda Medley hit three triples during a dominant 90-second stretch in the second quarter, pushing Boyd ahead for good.

Wade couldn’t solve the Boyd pressure, while the Lady Broncos outside shooting – Emma Miller and Laney Copeland each hit two triples and Cydney Jane Perry added a banker late – kept growing the lead until the end. The only trouble for the Lady Broncos in their opening win was when a melee broke out in the final minutes.

Medley was smacked on the court after a physical play, leading to a rumble in the middle of the paint between three players from Wade and Boyd’s leading scorer. Two players from Wade, along with Medley, were ejected from the game after the skirmish and suspended from action Thursday.

When Boyd started the second game with a new starting lineup, it looked like it may be too much to overcome, but the Lady Broncos weren’t going to quit. Boyd fell behind by 12 at halftime, but showed its grit in the second half.

Freshman Kealey Simpson was on a mission in the paint, including firing up her squad with a key three-point play during the rally. Another freshman – Perry – finally put Boyd over the top in the fourth with a vital free throw, making it 38-37. The Lady Broncos would never trail again.

Paige Sweeten and Krista Chisam, who played all 32 minutes in the victory and would later be named to the NACA All-Tournament team, hit vital free throws and sparked the team’s press as Living Water was outscored by 19 points in the second half.

“We played a tough schedule this year to prepare ourselves for contested game. It was one thing last year that we didn’t really experience until the very end of the year, but we saw it a lot this season. That was the first time we had overcame a double-digit deficit this season. They just refused to lose,” said Page.

Their desire to finish strong flashed again when the two teams met again on the final day of the tourney. The wonky bracket created by NACA had Living Water and Boyd back on the court together for the second time in 30 hours Friday and it turned into an instant classic.

The Lady Broncos built a 32-20 lead by halftime, but Living Water turned the tides in the rematch by racing back in the second half. When MaNyah Thomas-Wilson, an all-tournament selection with D1 offers, drilled a 3-pointer late in the fourth and later split a trip at the free-throw line, Boyd found itself trailing 45-42.

The deficit remained the same until 3:01 mark when senior Audrey Durham got a layup to fall in transition. It set up a whirlwind finish that capped the senior’s remarkable career with one final, unforgettable victory.

Durham pushed Boyd back in front on another layup with 2:43 remaining, curling into open space on an baseline play that worked to perfection. She followed with a deflection and steal on the press, allowing Boyd to take over a minute off the clock while leading 46-45.

Living Water got its chance to go back up when Boyd was called for an offensive foul on the weave, but the Lady Broncos got several big-time stops late.

Miller built a brick wall at the front of the rim to turn back one shot with 1:01 to go, getting her team the ball back. She also provided the perfect seal to allow Medley to cruise in for a layup to put Boyd up by three.

The Lady Broncos grabbed a steal on the ensuing inbounds and Copeland had a putback with 20 seconds to go to make it 50-45. Living Water still made Boyd sweat though, scoring with 10.7 seconds left and then getting a chance at the buzzer for a potential tie, but Thomas-Wilson drove in for a layup instead as Boyd picked up another close win.

“This has been a tournament we’ve looked forward to coming to every year and we’ve had a ton of success the last two years,” said Page, who noted his group is 5-1 in Dayton over the span after a 3-0 week. “It was hard to tell our team, especially Audrey because she’s been here the last three years and wanted to win it for our school, that we weren’t going to play for the title, but all we could do was go 3-0 for the week and that’s what we did.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this group. We’ve been able to put together two great seasons in a row and I think the future is only looking brighter for us.”

Boyd has now won 58 games in the last two seasons and will return 11 players next year, including its two leading scorers (Medley and Copeland), a TSIAA and NACA honoree (Chisam) and two more experienced starters (Sweeten and Miller) entering their senior years.

And Boyd will have more motivation to return even stronger in 2023-24. A NACA title is still on the to-do list for Lady Broncos.