By Chris Parker & Danielle King
History, both recent and distant, were motivators for Dadeville in the Class 1 quarterfinal round against Sheldon.
For senior Aidan Jarman, memories of the Bearcats making back-to-back final fours in 2010 and 2011 have long served as motivation.
“I have always dreamed of getting a banner on the wall,” Jarman said. “When I was little there was the 2010 team (that went) to state. It was really exciting and I was there. I have always just dreamed of doing that.”
More recently, Dadeville knew it could play with Sheldon. The Bearcats beat an undermanned Sheldon team 64-30 in the opening game of the year on Nov. 17.
“The first time (we played) I think they had some people out. We knew that this time it would be a much closer game. They were a lot better this time,” Jarman said.
Sheldon gave Dadeville a much tighter battle this time, but the result was the same as Dadeville is heading to the final four after securing a 49-41 win on Saturday in Stockton.
Dadeville came in singularly focused on quarter-by-quarter results.
“We knew they were going to be a good team, so we expected a fight the whole way from buzzer-to-buzzer. We liked how we were defending,” Dadeville head coach Curtis Collins said. “We were just trying to win each quarter.”
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Dadeville built a 21-17 lead going into the half, but the Bearcats knew they needed more, especially on the glass, if they were going to advance to the final four.
“We needed to rebound better. We weren’t boxing out,” Jarman said. “We are a really good rebounding team. When we aren’t rebounding well we aren’t playing as good as we can.”
“We try to box out hard. We pride ourselves on being a defensive team,” Collins said. “We work on it more than anything else. We practice on getting in front of the post and having good help-side. You have to outwork them if you aren’t going to have the height advantage. Sometimes you have to have the ball bounce your way.”
The Bearcats came out of the break and had their best quarter of the night with a 21-11 advantage to build a 42-28 lead with eight minutes left in the game. That cushion was enough to withstand Sheldon’s 13-7 fourth-quarter run.
Dadeville (22-9) advances to the Class 1 final four for the first time since 2011 when the Bearcats finished runner-up. They will face Braymer (21-9) at noon on Mar. 8 in the semifinal round.
Dadeville – 9-12-21-7 — 49
Sheldon – 6-11-11-13 — 41
D: Aidan Jarman 20, Chayse Coose 13, Brayden Garver 5, Gavin Orr 3, Peyton Garver 3, Payton Farmer 3, Briar Clift 2
S: Aiden Bogart 12, Aiden Ellifrits 12, Shon Bogart 11, Riley Chapman 6
