RABBITTOWN — It was the ladies turn Wednesday in the Region 7-AAA Tournament and despite a pair of upset bids, things stayed true to form with playoff berths on the line.
Dawson County, North Hall, and East Hall all joined Greater Atlanta Christian in the upcoming Class AAA playoffs with victories at the East Hall gym. GAC already had earned a berth by winning the regular season title.
The No. 4 seed Lady Tigers opened the day’s action with a 53-41 win over No. 5 Union County. Third-seeded North Hall held off seventh-seeded Fannin County 50-43 with a late fourth quarter rally to advance. And No. 2 East Hall held off a fuirous Lumpkin County fourth quarter rally for a 43-36 win.
The action will now move to Dawson County on Friday with the semifinals. East Hall and North Hall will meet at 4 p.m. with Dawson County and GAC meeting at 7 p.m. The winners of those two games will meet Saturday at 6 p.m. in the championship game.
DAWSON COUNTY GIRLS 53,
UNION COUNTY 41
Dawson County used a 19-3 third quarter run to break a tie and then held off the Lady Panthers to grab a playoff spot.
Including Wednesday’s win, the Lady Tigers (15-10) took all three meetings over Union County (15-10) during the season.
Early on it looked like Dawson County was going to run away as senior Kaylee Sticker reached 1,000 points for her career on a steal and layup for a 10-0 lead. But Union County finally got untracked ripping off a 9-0 run to pull within a point over the next two minutes.
The Lady Tigers answered that with a 7-0 spurt for a 17-9 advantage but the Lady Panthers responded to that with a 12-2 burst for a 21-19 halftime lead.
Dawson County coach Steve Sweat said they didn’t change much when they came out for the second half despite trailing.
“We just told them to settle down and play,” he said. “These games are very nerve-wracking because it’s win or go home against teams that know each other.”
After Dawson County opened the third quarter to take a 22-21 lead, Union County tied the game on a free throw. Callie Watson drained a 3-pointer for Dawson County to spark the decisive run, which was fueled by half a dozen Union County turnovers. The Lady Panthers went the first 5:20 of the third quarter without a field goal.
Dawson County took a 41-27 lead into the fourth quarter and led by as many as 18 points twice.
Sticker finished with 19 points, nine in the third quarter, to lead Dawson County. Cadey Ayers had 8 points, six of hers coming in the third quarter.
Union County was led by senior Bailey Daniel, who scored 15 points in her final game. Kait McCarter added 12 points for the Lady Panthers
Dawson County will take on No. 1 seed Greater Atlanta Christian on Friday in the semifinals in Dawsonville.
Despite playing their best ball and matching their longest win streak of the season with their third in a row, Sweat said that means very little right now.
“We’ve been playing very well the last two weeks. That’s good,” he said. “But that’s gone now. We need to keep getting better. But I like our team right now.”
NORTH HALL GIRLS 50,
FANNIN COUNTY 43
The Lady Trojans avoided the upset with a late-game surge to advance to their fifth straight playoffs.
North Hall (14-11) held the Lady Rebels (8-16) scoreless over the final two minutes and erased a 39-35 deficit with a 15-4 run over the final 4:04 to earn the win.
A 3-pointer by Ansley Smallwood gave North Hall the final lead of the game at 44-43 with 1:54 left. The Lady Trojans then hit 4-of-6 free throws in the final 1:11 to seal the win.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair the entire way with seven ties and 18 lead changes throughout.
North Hall coach Kristi House was more than pleased with her team’s poise in the final minutes.
“It was a strange game to get into a flow. There were a lot of fouls and that hurt getting into a rhythm,” House said. “I think more than anything at the end was that we just got some shots to fall.”
Neither team led by more than four until the final moments. Fannin County took its biggest lead at 39-35 on a Hope Franklin basket. A pair of free throws and a stickback basket by Natalie Nixon tied the game for North Hall.
Morgan Holt reclaimed the lead at 41-39 for the Lady Rebels but Smallwood answered moments later.
North Hall now will take on East Hall in the semifinals on Friday at Dawson County. The Lady Trojans were swept by the Lady Vikings during the regular season.
“The way we played at the end, hopefully that will help us as we keep going,” House said.
Maci Gillespie led North Hall with 14 points. Ferguson finished with 11, nine coming in the second half. Nixon had 8 points, five in the fourth quarter for the Lady Trojans.
Franklin paced Fannin County with 14 points. Holt finished with 10 for the Lady Rebels.
EAST HALL GIRLS 43,
LUMPKIN COUNTY 36
The Lady Vikings built a 15-point lead heading into the fourth but had to hold off a furious rally by the Lady Indians to get the victory.
Lumpkin County (9-15) used a 14-4 run to close to within 41-36 with 23 seconds left. A pair of Maggie Griffin free throws and a late turnover helped preserve the win and send the Lady Vikings into the state playoffs.
East Hall managed to get the win with Carly Winters scoring just six points with just one free throw after the first quarter.
“That’s something we’ve been talking about is other girls stepping up when our best players are having an off night,” East Hall coach Justin Wheeler said. “They did that tonight.”
Jenny Lopez led East Hall (15-11) with 16 points. Griffin finished with 9 points with the bench accounting for eight more.
East Hall led just 22-16 at halftime but exploded for a 15-6 third quarter run to take a 37-22 lead into the final period. But Lumpkin kept chipping away with a Mackenzie Pulley layup getting them within 41-36.
The Lady Vikings never trailed after a Winters 3-pointer gave them a 6-4 lead midway through the first quarter. It would be her only field goal of the night. They would build a 21-11 second quarter lead powered by a 10-2 run that was capped by a Griffin 3-pointer.
The Lady Indians did not go away, however. They held East Hall to just four points on a Griffin 3-pointer and a Tessa Rider free throw while climbing to within 22-16 by halftime on a 3-pointer by Maddie Self and a layup from Clara White off a Self assist.
Lumpkin County was led Pulley with 12 points. Freshman Isabel Davenport added 9 points for the Lady Indians, who with return 10 players from this year's roster next season.
Now, East Hall will take on North Hall, a team it swept during the regular season, in the semifinals at Dawson County.
“I don’t think that matters,” Wheeler said about the regular season sweep. “We’ve had that before this time of year and the team we swept beat us and then we’ve beaten teams that swept us. I just think it’s going to be a typical East Hall-North Hall game.”
