Dibrell Lady Wildcat Kylie Mason had ice water in her veins when she stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down both free throws to cement the 29-26 win over Eastside on Tuesday night.
Dibrell held a one-point lead with :11 left when Mason was fouled. She pulled the trigger on the first shot and hit the bottom of the net. The Lady Wildcats were up two, 28-26.
Eastside coaches called timeout in an attempt to try and freeze Mason. Out of the timeout, Mason stepped to the line for the second time. She took a deep breath and fired a shot right on target and the Dibrell fans erupted.
In a last-ditch effort, the Lady Bulldogs drove the length of the floor and fired a shot that missed and the Lady Wildcats held on for the win.
Dibrell led by five, 25-20, with 1:20 to play and the game looked out of reach. However, a couple costly mistakes led to turnovers which allowed the Lady Bulldogs to snatch the lead.
Three quick scores in less than a minute got the home crowd fired up and it looked like the Lady Bulldogs were on their way to a come-from-behind win, up 26-25.
Dibrell brought the ball across midcourt and found a wide open JuJu Pyburn on the left wing near the baseline. She squared up, fired, and the shot was good and Dibrell reclaimed the lead, 27-26.
Eastside turned the ball over and Mason picked up the loose ball and was fouled. She buried the two free throws for the 29-26 win.
The game started close in the first quarter. At the end of one Dibrell led by only two.
In the second quarter, the Lady Wildcats created space between the Lady Bulldogs. Emma Parsley dropped in four points for Dibrell and at the half Dibrell led 14-5.
Eastside picked up its pace on both ends of the floor and the Lady Bulldogs stood their ground after the break. The Eastside defense held Dibrell two only two points in the third and cut into the Lady Wildcat lead, 16-12.
In the final quarter Eastside’s Shelby Smartt broke free from the pack and dropped in 10 of her 14 points. Pyburn led the Lady Wildcats with eight points in the fourth.
LADY WILDCAT SCORING – JuJu Pyburn 14, Emma Parsley 9, Kylie Mason 4, Karlee Cantrell 2
LADY BULLDOG SCORING – Shelby Smartt 14, Emeri Cummings 5, Madelyn Powers 3, Kinslee Grissom 2, Savannah Winfree 2