Dodd City Lady Hornets win state championship

Posted Date: 03/17/2021

by Allen Rich

San Antonio, Texas -- The Dodd City Lady Hornets have knocked on the door at the state championship four times. On the fifth try, Dodd City kicked the door down.

The No. 1-ranked Lady Hornets lived up to their billing by turning back No. 2 Nazareth, 30-21, in the UIL Class 1A State Championship game played Wednesday morning in San Antonio at the Alamodome.

For the past five years, there is little doubt that the best two Class 1A girls basketball programs in Texas have been Dodd City and Nazareth, a team with a remarkable 24 state championships, including the last four.

But this year, no one could handle Dodd City. The Lady Hornets went 32-0 and survived a second-period scoring drought in the title game to put away Nazareth.

With Dodd City's leading scorer, sophomore Rion Baccus, only playing sparingly due to an injury, the Lady Hornets looked inside to Journie Hilliard and the senior post responded with a game-high 13 points. Hilliard also managed to pull down a game-high seven rebounds on her way to picking up the championship game MVP.

Dodd City had a 6-5 lead after the first quarter, with Hilliard scoring all six points.  

The Lady Hornets stretched their lead to 10-5 early in the second period when Nazareth made its move and reeled off a 9-0 run to pull in front, 14-10.

At halftime, the defending champion Nazareth Swiftettes had a 16-11 advantage.

As it turns out, that wasn't enough.

Dodd City shut out Nazareth, 13-0, in a decisive third quarter that effectively took the crown from Nazareth.

The Lady Hornets went into the final period with a 24-16 lead and went on to put away their old nemesis with a 31-20 victory in the state championship game.

Dodd City four-year starters Journie Hilliard and Dani Baccus led all scorers with 13 points and 12 points, respectively. Tori Dotson, a junior, picked Nazareth's pocket for a couple of key steals in the second half and finished with five points.

Iris Schilderink led Nazareth with seven points against a stingy Dodd City defense.

Dodd City senior Dani Baccus concentrates at the free throw line.

Dodd City junior Tori Dotson starts up with a shot.

Dodd City junior Kylee Graves drives the baseline.

Dodd City junior Ali Preas defends Nazareth's Addie Dyer.

UIL officials present Dodd City senior Journie Hilliard with her state championship game MVP trophy.

2020-2021 Class 1A State Champions - Dodd City Lady Hornets

photos courtesy UIL