Dixon girls share BNC title after loss to Cardinals

STILLMAN VALLEY – Stillman Valley’s 38-34 win over Dixon on Saturday evening has made for a three-way tie for first place in the Big Northern Conference. Those two teams, along with Byron, all finished with one loss in league play.

Stillman Valley (28-1) was in a much more celebratory mood than Dixon (25-5) after Saturday’s game, posing for team pictures and the like on its home court.

“Any game with Dixon, is a grind-it-out affair,” Stillman Valley coach Bobby Mellon said. “Even though we struggled to hit shots, we moved the ball around better than we did against Byron (a 42-38 loss).”

In the tightly officiated contest with several offensive fouls, points were at a premium. After six early points by all-stater Taylor Davidson, the Cardinals were shut out on their next seven possessions, but still led 6-5 after the first quarter.

It remained a one-point differential at half, 15-14 in favor of the Cardinals, but a diamond-in-1 defense on Davidson slowed her down. Assigned the task was Morgan Hargrave, who diligently followed Davidson everywhere she went.

“Defense is my thing and that’s my role,” Hargrave said. “I did the same thing against Byron. But, we defend with all five. The whole team did a good job of helping me out.”

Hargrave helped out the cause on offense with seven points in the second quarter. Ahmyrie McGowan added the other four points in that quarter on a 360 move in the paint and a basket made while fouled.

“What I liked was how we battled and stayed together,” Dixon coach Luke Ravlin said.

Coming out after halftime, Dixon grabbed its largest lead of the game, 18-15 on baskets by Reese Dambman and Hallie Williamson.

On the next possession, the 6-foot Williamson was called for her fourth foul and sat the rest of the third quarter. That is where Stillman Valley made its run.

Freshman Lillian Green grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to give the Cardinals the lead for good 20-19. Davidson then made an off-balanced shot in traffic and followed it up with a layup off a steal for a 26-19 lead.

McGowan finally stopped the run with a pair of free throws, but the Duchesses trailed 29-21 going into the fourth quarter.

“We missed Hallie. She’s a great player,” Ravlin said. “Losing her was a key point of the game.”

Williamson came back at the start of the fourth quarter, and Dixon slowly made a comeback. A 3-pointer by Dambman after seven empty possessions pulled Dixon within 29-24.

Stillman Valley also went scoreless on seven possessions in the same time frame. It was Davidson, however, who got her team going with a pair of baskets on trap-breaking layups for a 33-24 lead.

“I was down on myself after Byron,” Davidson said. “I read a book today on self confidence. It was about visualizing and turning negatives into positives.”

She scored a third straight time, but it was wiped out because of an offensive foul, her fourth of the game with 1:45 left. Seconds later, Williamson hit a 3 to close the lead to 33-29.

With Stillman Valley effectively moving the ball against the pressure defense and traps, the Duchesses were forced to foul. Green went to the line on three straight possessions and shot 5 for 6 to seal the victory.

“I like how our team played with me out of the mix, especially when I was face-guarded,” Davidson said.

Green finished with 13 points, and sophomore Dailene Wade had seven to spark the third-quarter push, all under the basket in Williamson’s absence.

McGowan led Dixon with 13 points, including five in the final minute of the game. Williamson had eight, and Dambman and Hargrave seven each.

“It’s good to play a game like this going into the postseason,” Ravlin said. “Anytime we play Stillman Valley, it a battle.”

Statistically, both team shot 35% from the field. Dixon held a 31-19 rebounding edge, but had 12 turnovers compared with eight for Stillman Valley, who had 20 against Byron.

The biggest difference was in free-throw shooting. Stillman Valley was 10 for 13, Dixon 5 for 13.

“We’ll definitely keep our heads up,” Hargrave said. “This game doesn’t define us.”