The Pirates accomplished what no other Dale boys basketball team had ever done. The Pirates have been proficient in baseball with a total of 21 State Championships but had never won the title in basketball.
The Lady Pirates round ballers have gathered seven State Titles over the years, but there had been none for the guys until Saturday, March 12, 2022, when the Pirates claimed the gold ball for the very first time. The Pirates, ranked #1 in the class 2A, lived up to their billing while taking away the title hopes of #9 Hooker, #7 Silo and #3 Cashion.
“Winning a state championship is a dream come true,” said head coach Jeff Edmondson. “This is an incredible accomplishment that we all worked hard for. This young team made history winning the first boys’ state championship at Dale.”
The Pirates opened their tournament run Thursday night as they met Hooker in the State Quarterfinals. Hooker, with the height advantage over the Pirates, held a 15-12 lead after the first quarter. But Dale took a 17-15 lead at the 7:30 mark in the second on a fast break layup, and the Pirates never trailed again as they went to halftime with a 31-21 advantage.
Hooker put up a fight in the third quarter but got only a 14-14 tie in the period to still trail by ten headed to the fourth quarter. The Pirates were efficient with time in the final stanza and took complete control on the way to a 60-43 win over the Bulldogs to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
The Pirates all-everything player, Dayton Forsythe led the way for Dale with 32-points, 12-rebounds, and 6-assists. Forsythe was 12-of-17 from the floor and was 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. Jett Higdon was in double figures with 10-points while Deken Jones tossed in nine. Jones also pulled down four rebounds while Higdon grabbed three. Levi Kelly added six points while Kash Vanbrunt had one point in the win.
On Friday night, the Pirates drew the late game and faced longtime rival Silo for a chance to make it to the finals. While the Rebel defenders gave a lot of attention to Forsythe, the Pirates were busy spreading the scoring around on the way to a 66-37 demolition of Silo.
The game was close for the first quarter, with the Pirates leading 14-11 at the end of the period. The second quarter belonged to Dale as the Pirates scored the first six points to take a 20-11 lead before Silo found the bucket again. The rest of the quarter was even worse for the Rebels as the Dale defense was dominant on the way to a 33-18 halftime lead.
The Pirates kept pouring it on in the third and fourth quarter outscoring Silo 33-19 on the way to the rout and a spot in the title bout. The Dale points were spread among seven Pirates, with Jones cranking in 17 while the heavily guarded Forsythe poured in 16-points.
Kelly had three treys in the game and finished with 11-points. Easton Edmondson had three from beyond the arc early in the game for the Pirates for nine points. Higdon and Trayden Chambers each had four points, while Ethan Douglas had three points. Chambers led the Pirates on the boards with eight rebounds while Jones and Forsythe pulled down seven and six respectively.
In the title game Saturday night, the Pirates faced the Cashion Wildcats for the gold ball, and it was the rubber match for the teams as the Pirates and the Wildcats in two games earlier in the year.
The Wildcats were determined to slow down the Pirates as they doubled up the defense of Forsythe. Well, at least they tried. Cashion harassed Forsythe the entire length of the floor and doubled him as much as possible.
The Wildcats plan worked pretty well in the first half, holding Forsythe to 10-points at halftime but may’ve lit a fire that couldn’t be extinguished in the second half. Dale trailed 19-16 after the opening quarter and still trailed 28-26 at the half.
The spark that began going into halftime became a full-blown raging fire in the second half as Forsythe took over the game and led the Pirates to a 16-11 third quarter advantage as Dale took a 42-39 lead to the fourth quarter.
The flame grew even stronger in the final stanza and burned brighter as Forsythe finished off the Wildcats with 27 second-half points to lead Dale to the 65-58 win and give the Pirates their first State Championship.
Forsythe finished the game with 37-points in the win, eight rebounds, and four assists. Forsythe was also named the MVP of the State Tournament while averaging 29-points. Jones was also in double figures for the Pirates with 16-points while grabbing four rebounds against Cashion. Jones averaged over 13-points in the tourney was named to the All-Tournament squad.
Higdon had five points while Edmondson tossed in three points and Kelly and Chambers each added two points in the title game.
After the game, when asked about Forsythe taking over in the second half, Coach Edmondson stated, “That’s what you expect a great player like that to do. He’s a special player, and I’m glad we’ve got him on our team.
Asked to make a comment about how he gets a young team (three freshmen and two sophomores starting) to play so confident and aggressive in such a big game, he commented without hesitation. “They’ve played a lot of basketball together growing up from little league to AAU ball and together in high school.”
The Pirates finished as State Champions with a record of 29-2 with their only losses on the season to 3A Jones and to Cashion in an earlier regular season game.
