MURRAYVILLE -- After a tough loss to Buford at home on Tuesday that dropped Dawson County into third place in Region 7-AAA, the Lady Tigers needed something positive to happen.
They found it in a gutsy fourth quarter comeback against North Hall Friday in a 55-51 win on the road.
The Lady Tigers (14-2, 4-2 Region 7-AAA) led by five, 34-29, midway through the third quarter but then found themselves trailing by five, 43-38, early in the fourth quarter and watching the momentum quickly slip away. Enter senior Carly Gilreath, who poured in five points and dished out a pair of assists in a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead for good at 48-45 with 3:50 left in the game.
"I was real proud of how we answered in the fourth quarter," Dawson County coach Steve Sweat said. "North Hall made a run to get the lead but we didn't quit. Carly did a great job of leading us back. This was a big win for us after the Buford game."
While Gilreath led them back, Dawson County sophomore Ashley Parker provided perhaps the two biggest plays of the game in a minute span. Dawson's Sheyenne Seabolt missed two free throws with the Lady Tigers clinging to a 48-47 lead with 2:48 left but Parker squeezed between two North Hall rebounders to pick up a loose ball and convert it into a basket. Parker repeated her feat 50 seconds later after a Gilreath miss to give them a 52-47 lead with 1:38 left.
Parker added another free throw a minute later to seal the game.
"Ashley did a great job of finding the ball. Those were huge for us," Sweat said.
Dawson County would push its lead to 55-47 on 3-of-4 free throws with 29 seconds left. North Hall got a pair steals and baskets in the final 21 seconds for the final score but could get no closer.
Dawson County scored first on an offensive rebound stick back by Sheyenne Seabolt in the opening minute of the game and North Hall would take its only lead in the first half at 3-2 on a 3-pointer by Allie Staub 30 seconds later.
The Lady Tigers would then use an efficient and methodical offense over the next three minutes to run out to an 11-3 lead. Dawson County had five assists on its first six field goals and finished with eight assists in the first half on 12 field goals.
North Hall answered Dawson County's 9-0 run with an 11-4 spurt to pull within 15-14 in the opening minute of the second quarter but the Lady Trojans could not grab the lead. The Lady Tigers finished the first half with a 10-7 run to lead 25-21 at halftime.
North Hall opened the third quarter with an 8-4 run to tie the game at 29 but the Lady Tigers responded with a 5-0 run for a 34-29 lead. But the Lady Trojans answered that with a 9-1 run, capped by another Staub 3-pointer, to take a 38-35 lead, their first since 3-2 in the opening minutes.
North Hall extended its to 45-40 on a Katie Sayres 3-pointer and two Taylor Phillips free throws.
Gilreath would finish with 16 points and five assists to lead Dawson County. Seabolt had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks for the Lady Tigers. Parker had seven points for Dawson County.
North Hall was paced by 13 points from Sayres, 10 coming in the second half. Staub finished with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists and Phillips and Kensi Gillespie had eight points each for the Lady Trojans.
North Hall (9-6, 3-6) has lost six of its last 10 games after a 5-0 start. The Lady Trojans will continue a difficult homestand on Tuesday against Buford and then play host to Banks County, the top two teams in the region, next week.
Thursday
February 6th, 2025
2:18PM
