Monday’s matchup between the Dibrell Lady Wildcats and Eastside Lady Bulldogs lived up the hype. With the league lead on the line and both teams sporting undefeated records, the Lady Wildcats rallied in the final minute to win 25-22 on the road.
It was a raucous atmosphere at Eastside gym when the two teams met for the first time this season. Dibrell and Eastside had each won with ease in their first five games, but from the opening minute it was obvious this game would stay close.
Rhealee Johnson, who would play a huge part in the Dibrell victory, gave the Lady Wildcats an early lead with back-to-back baskets while dominant Dibrell post Alora Stuart connected on a short shot of her own.
The home crowd didn’t seem to help the Lady Bulldogs in the early going as Rylie Crawford’s free throw was the team’s only point in the first quarter.
Trailing 6-1 to start the second, Eastside turned to its top scorer to claw back into the game. Kapri Talley connected on two buckets in the period, while Grayson Hillis added a jumper and Crawford sank another freebie. Dibrell countered with one basket from MaKenna Mason – who battled foul trouble in the first half – to knot the game at 8-8 going into halftime.
Eastside surged out the locker rooms and scored the first eight points in the third quarter as fans went crazy. Kyla Baker had two baskets during the run sandwiched around jumpers by Hillis and Talley.
Kylie Young finally gave Dibrell fans something to cheer about late in the third quarter when she hit a jumper, but Dibrell went into the final quarter trailing 16-10.
Eastside pushed its lead back to eight twice in the fourth quarter – first on a basket by Talley and then on a jumper from Crawford to make it 20-12. Dibrell wouldn’t go away though as Johnson rallied the Lady Wildcats.
Johnson’s first fourth-quarter basket was sandwiched between Talley and Crawford makes, but her second shot gave Dibrell a huge boost. Johnson took aim from deep and banked in a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the Eastside lead to 20-15.
Annaston McBride and Johnson made back-to-back shots with two minutes to play, slicing the lead to one, but Talley responded with a layup to push Eastside ahead 22-19.
Not to be outdone, Calyn Damon took over to give Dibrell its first lead since the second quarter. Damon hit a layup, then got a bullet pass from Mason with 1:03 to play and connected on a short jumper from the baseline as Dibrell surged ahead 23-22.
Eastside had two late chances to tie, but couldn’t get a shot on goal against a stingy Dibrell defense down the stretch. The Lady Wildcats put the game away when Sadie Simmons grabbed a missed free throw with 13.2 seconds left and banked in the rebound to provide for the final score.
Dibrell followed its thrilling win by beating Warren County Middle School 34-23 Tuesday night. The Lady Wildcats are now 7-0 and own sole possession of first place. Eastside currently sits in second place at 5-1 after having the night off Tuesday.
More scores from this week’s elementary action will appear in Sunday’s Southern Standard.