Lady Tigers sweep Zavalla tourney; win in overtime

The Tenaha Lady Tigers brought home first place in the high school girls bracket competing in the Zavalla Jingle Bell Jubilee Tournament last weekend, December 9-11. The Lady Tigers went undefeated in the tournament winning five games.

Thursday

The Lady Tigers faced the Overton Mustangs in their first game Thursday morning. Tenaha’s offense came out on fire in the first quarter. Lataejna Steadman made two shots from beyond the arch, and helped her team score a total of 20 points in the first eight minutes. The Lady Tiger defense made a statement against Overton as well. Tenaha did not give up any points to the Mustangs in either of the second or third quarter. Itiyanna Dagley, Jasmine Dodd, and Christina Sparks all scored double digits in the game making the final score 60-13. The Lady Tigers faced the Broaddus Bulldogs in their second game Thursday evening. In the first half, it was a tight race for the A team to gain control of a lead. The halftime score was 26-22 with Tenaha on top. After halftime adjustments, the offense came alive for the Lady Tigers. They scored a total of 20 points in just the third quarter. This expanded the Tiger lead to 46-31. The fourth quarter was low scoring for both teams, and they each scored only six points. This final score was 52-37. At 2-0 in the tournament, the Tenaha Lady Tigers were tied for the first-place seed after day one.  

 Friday

On the second day of pool play, the Lady Tigers faced the Douglass Indians Friday morning. The contest between the two was close in the first quarter. Tenaha led the Indians with a score of 12-10. However, J. Dodd scored 11 points in the second quarter which brought the halftime score to 34-23. Tenaha continued to add to their lead in the third and fourth quarter and won with a final score of 55-34. Dagley had 15 points throughout the game, and the leading scorer for the Lady Tiger was J. Dodd with 26 points. Late Friday night, Tenaha and Diboll battled to see who would get the one seed and a spot in the first-place championship game on Saturday night. The Lady Tigers scored 30 points in the first half and gave up only 17 points to the Lady Jacks. Dagley, J. Dodd, and Steadman led the team in scoring, and together had 43 points against the Lady Jacks. The final score was 58-33 giving the Lady Tigers a clinch spot in the championship game against the Shelbyville Lady Dragons.

Saturday

The Lady Tigers had the game-of-the-night in the championship game against Shelbyville. The showdown between these two district-rivals was a nail biter from the beginning. Defense played a crucial role in the low-scoring game. At halftime, Steadman led the team with 4 points and the score was 12-11. In the third quarter, the offense started to come alive for the Lady Tigers. Horton hit an early 3-pointer and the Lady Tigers scored a total of 11 points. Tenaha and Shelbyville headed into the last eight minutes of play at a tie score of 23-23. The game came down to the wire in the fourth. Each team evened the score as the other took a lead. Steadman scored four points and it looked like the Lady Tigers had sealed the win, but in the final seconds Shelbyville hit a 3-pointer that would send the game into overtime at 31-31. In extra minutes, Tenaha was four for six in free throws and Horton hit another 3-pointer which would defeat the Dragons with a final score of 40-39. Tenaha Head Coach, Garry Davidson, stated after the game that he was “… proud of how his kids overcame the adversity and found a way to get the win.” When asked if he was ready to start district this coming week, he responded, “It’s time. We are ready.” Tenaha starts district play on December 17 with a rematch against the Shelbyville Lady Dragons in Tenaha at 5:00 p.m.