DCHS Tigers Travel to Tullahoma for Region Basketball Tournament Opener Saturday Night
by: Dwayne PageMar 02, 2025
The DeKalb County Tigers will meet the Tullahoma Wildcats in the first round of the Region 4 AAA basketball tournament Saturday night, March 1 at Tullahoma. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage with the Voice of the Tigers John Pryor.
The Tigers are 10-21 overall while the Wildcats are 26-4. It’s the first region tournament appearance for the Tigers since 2013. DC finished 4th in the district tournament. Tullahoma is the top seed from its district entering the region tournament.
After finishing the regular district season at 1-9 the Tigers upended White County in the 1st round of the district tournament and lost close but winnable games against Stone Memorial and Livingston Academy.
Tiger Coach Joey Agee said his team may be playing its best basketball now.
“We are pleased with the way they played in the district tournament. The game against Stone Memorial ended up being 10 points (57-47 final) but it was really a five- or six-point game. We had to start fouling at the end. If we had made a few baskets here or there we might have been in the championship game. In the game with Livingston Academy, we had three opportunities near the end but the shots just didn’t go down although they battled back. We were down by eight points with two minutes to go but we got after them on defense and they (Wildcats) missed some free throws which was good for us. I think we hit three 3-point shots in three possessions in a row which got us back in the game. We tied it up but ended up getting beat by two (51-49). Our effort was great and our defense was pretty good. If we are patient on offense we are a lot better offensively. Sometimes we get a little dribble happy or a little crazy with the ball and turn it over but that has been much better lately and I think you can see the results of that,” said Coach Agee.
Speaking with John Pryor on Tiger Talk, Coach Agee sizes up DeKalb County’s next opponent in Tullahoma.
“Nobody is really picking us to win against Tullahoma so we are basically in the same situation going into the region as we were the district tournament. We have to prove people wrong. When you play in our district you are playing in a lot of tough atmospheres especially White County, Upperman, and Livingston Academy. All those places are pretty rowdy. It shouldn’t be any different at Tullahoma. Of course, it will be a home game for them (Tullahoma) but we have been in that situation before. One of their players, Xavier Ferrell handles the ball well, shoots the mid-range well, and shoots the three point well from what we have seen. He’s the guy who really controls everything for them but they have some other good players too. They have a big 6-foot, 8-inch kid on the inside who creates a lot of problems offensively and defensively. He is back there protecting the rim. We have to move the ball and be patient on offense. Its going to take all of us to win,” said Coach Agee.
Listen for Tiger Talk Saturday, March 1 starting at 6:45 p.m. featuring John Pryor interviewing Tiger Coach Joey Agee and Tiger players and All-District Tournament team members Dallas Kirby and Jon Hendrix followed by the game at 7 p.m. on WJLE AM 1480/ FM 101.7 and on the LIVE stream at www.wjle.com.
February Students of the Month at Smithville Elementary
by: Dwayne PageMar 02, 2025
Smithville Elementary has recognized its Students of the Month for February. These students were selected for their outstanding character, academics, and other traits that make them an all-around excellent student. Selected as Students of the Month for February are:
PreK – Hadley Ralph, Ethan Meighan
Kindergarten – Jahlia Cantrell, Allie Snow
1st Grade – Dalilah Velazquez, Blakelyn Cripps
2nd Grade – Jesus Garcia, Jacob Garcia Sanchez
D.A.R.E. Graduation Held for DeKalb Middle School Sixth Graders
by: Dwayne PageMar 02, 2025
Sixth graders at DeKalb Middle School graduated from the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in a ceremony Friday.
D.A.R.E. is a DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department-led series of classroom lessons that teaches sixth graders in DeKalb County how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.
Joseph Carroll of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department is the D.A.R.E Officer instructor for the sixth-grade classes at DeKalb Middle School.
The 10-week course identifies fundamental, basic skills and developmental processes needed for healthy development including: Self-awareness and management, Responsible decision making, Understanding others, Relationship and communication skills, and Handling responsibilities and challenges.
D.A.R.E. believes that if you can teach youth to make safe and responsible decisions, it will guide them to healthy choices, not only about drugs, but across all parts of their lives. As they grow to be responsible citizens, they will lead healthier and more productive drug-free lives.
As part of the course, students prepared essays on what they have learned from D.A.R.E. and the overall essay winner at DeKalb Middle School was Jackson Longmire, while second place went to Nevaeh Knight and Sophia Pina received third place. Each student was given baskets of prizes.
Circuit Court Clerk Susan Martin presented awards to students in an art contest held in conjunction with the D.A.R.E. program.
“Before I was elected to this job, I was a court reporter and part of that was to travel around to different court houses in the state of Tennessee but the one that stood out was Wilson County because outside their courtroom they had some art from D.A.R.E. students displayed there so I thought that was a good idea. A few years ago, I reached out to our SRO officers and asked as part of D.A.R.E. can we include an art contest. This year I have done a first, second, and third place and an honorable mention and the art from these award winners will be displayed in my office at the courthouse for all your family to see,” said Martin.
Winners of the art contest were first place Ava Gillis, second place Sidney Rigsby, third place McKenzie Hendrixson, and honorable mention Miller Williams.
In addition to recognizing DeKalb Middle School Principal Teresa Jones, Assistant Principal Josh Agee, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, and the Board of Education, Sheriff Patrick Ray welcomed special guests Register of Deeds Daniel Seber, Circuit Court Clerk Susan Martin, Road Supervisor Danny Hale, members of the DeKalb Prevention Coalition and Coordinated School Health, DCHS SRO Jasmine Garza, DMS SRO and D.A.R.E. Officer Joseph Carroll, and Sheriff’s Department Detectives Chris Russell and Jacob Parker.