O n Monday, March 2, the Cornersville Lady Dawgs and the Fayetteville City Tigerettes met at Eagleville High School for the 2nd round of Regional Tournament action. The Dawgs came out running as Emma Kate Dunivan started the game with a “deep downtown” three which was followed by two offensive rebounds and put backs by Camile Franklin. The Tigerettes had a tight zone defense and caused some turnovers which they converted to points to keep them in the game. The Dawgs ended the 1st quarter of play with a slight lead (11-8), but in the 2nd quarter the Tigerettes heated up and drained several three pointers to take the lead from the Lady Dawgs. Cornersville also hurt themselves by turning over the ball a lot due to walks, carries, or just bad ball handling. Emma Kate Dunivan also got into foul trouble early. The teams went to halftime with the Dawgs trailing the Tigerettes 19-23.

After halftime, the troubles just got worse for Cornersville. The Tigerettes were still extremely hot with their shooting and came out with 6 quick points to extend their lead early in the 3rd quarter. The Dawgs couldn’t seem to “buy a basket” and missed several free throws. Late in the 3rd quarter, the Bulldogs seemed to want to make a run, but Fayetteville always had an answer to maintain their lead. The Dawgs tried to press on defense to rattle the Tigerettes, but it had no effect, they remained calm and broke the press for easy scores. The end of the 3rd quarter showed Cornersville still trailing 42-36.

In the 4th quarter, just when it seemed that the Dawgs were to be counted out of the competition, Emma Kate Dunivan decided that she did NOT want to lose this game. Her usual gritty and scrappy play was accelerated as she started to steal balls, drive in for layups and fouls, and hyping her team up even though they trailed by as much as 11 points at one point. The other girls were spurred on by her determination and started playing super tight defense which led to some turnovers and scores to inch the score closer and closer. With 3 minutes remaining in the game, they had cut the lead to 4 points, but Fayetteville was holding on tightly to their lead. With 1:40 left in play, Annamarie Cooper hit a three pointer and was fouled. She sunk her free throw to tie the game at 51-51. A mishap on defense had the Dawgs fouling the Tigerettes and sent them to the free throw line. Thankfully, they missed both free throws and the game remained tied with seconds remaining. It was no surprise when Emma Kate Dunivan took the ball and drove right into the paint for a layup score and foul. This gave the team the lead. Fayetteville threw up a half court, desperation shot, but it was no good and the Dawgs snuck away with the win (53-51).

Emma Kate Dunivan had a HUGE night with 21 points, Camile Franklin and Annamarie Cooper both added 11, Abigail Finley 6 points, and Faith Eguia had 4 points. Thanks to the determination and inspiration of Dunivan, her team will play in the Regional Championship on Wednesday, March 4 at Eagleville High School. They will need Dunivan and all the others to bring their determination as they will face off against their rival Richland.