RABBITTOWN — If every Region 7-AAA game goes the way of Tuesday night’s double-overtime thriller for Dawson County girls coach Steve Sweat, his grey hair may turn to baldness.
The Lady Tigers trailed most of the game, but behind a tenacious defensive effort in the fourth quarter, they were able to finally catch the Lady Vikings and then pull away for a 62-55 win on the road in both teams Region 7-AAA openers.
“I feel like every game in 7-AAA is going to be like that. If so, I may loose some of this hair,” Sweat said after watching his Lady Tigers (6-0, 1-0 Region 7-AAA) outscore East Hall 15-8 in the second overtime.
Senior Karlie Bearden led the comeback with 12 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter and two overtimes. Her 3-pointer with 2:40 left in the second overtime gave Dawson County a 52-51 lead and then the Lady Tigers sealed the game hitting 6-of-10 free throws down the stretch.
The Dawson County defense also picked up the pace forcing three key turnovers in the final minute to thwart any Lady Vikings (5-2, 0-1) comeback.
East Hall coach Justin Wheeler felt it was a game they did everything they needed to do to win.
“We played good defense, we controlled the game most of the way, we didn’t quit when they made a run,” Wheeler said. “We just didn’t finish them off when we had the chance. This is one that definitely we let get away from us.”
East Hall trailed just once until the final minute of regulation, 30-29, after using a 12-0 run in the first quarter to take the lead. The Lady Vikings led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, held a 42-34 lead with 4:07 left in the fourth quarter following a Carly Winters 3-pointer, and led 44-39 with 1:10 left after a pair of Ashlyn Ellison free throws.
But Bearden scored five consecutive points, including a long 3-pointer with 33 seconds left, to eventually send it to overtime tied at 44. East Hall missed its final 11 shots in regulation.
“We just couldn’t get anything to drop. We missed three layups that ended up being pretty big,” Wheeler said. “It was a frustrating ending.”
In the first overtime, Dawson County led 47-45 after a Eliza Sillesky field goal and Bearden free throw. But Ellison send it to a second overtime with a running basket with 14 seconds, snapping the Lady Vikings field goal drought.
In the second overtime, East Hall took a 51-49 lead on two consecutive Kylah Mize baskets but Bearden’s 3-pointer gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good.
“Karlie is a player and we want her to take control for us and she did that in overtime. I’m just glad she’s on my team,” Sweat said.
After Dawson County opened the scoring with a Kaylee Sticker basket, East Hall exploded for a 12-0 run behind its defense. The Lady Vikings forced five Dawson County turnovers over its first six possessions with their aggressive man-to-man defense and Carly Winters drained back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the first quarter for a 12-2 lead.
A Jenny Edwards 3-pointer pushed East Hall’s lead to 15-4 with 3:01 left and the Lady Tigers finally turned their own defensive pressure. Dawson County forced three straight East Hall turnovers with its press and closed to within 15-8 by the end of the first quarter in a Haley Burgess basket with 11 seconds left.
The Lady Tigers opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from Erin Chatham to get within 15-11 but the Lady Vikings used a 7-4 run, capped by another Winters 3-pointer, to take a 22-15 lead. Dawson County answered back with a 5-0 on a second Chatham trey and a Sticker basket with just under three minutes left in the half.
Edwards hit 1-of-2 free throws and then got a stick-back basket to push it back to a five-point lead before Katelynn Simpson closed the first half with a driving basket for Dawson County to cut the lead to 25-22 by halftime.
Both defenses were tough to crack with each forcing 11 turnovers. East Hall was able to maintain the lead throughout the first by controlling the boards. The Lady Vikings outrebounded Dawson County 16-5 in the first half. East Hall also was 4-of-8 from 3-point range and Dawson County was just 2-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first half.
In the second half Dawson County outrebounded East Hall 20-13 to help fuel the comeback.
Haley Burgess finished with 11 points, nine in the fourth quarter and overtimes, for Dawson County. Sillesky finished with nine points for the Lady Tigers, who also were 11-for-19 from the free throw line.
Winters paced East Hall with 20 points, including six 3-pointers. Mize finished with 17 points, nine of those in the fourth quarter and overtimes. Edwards finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out late in the first overtime.
The Lady Vikings hit just 4-of-7 free throws for the game.
EAST HALL BOYS 74
DAWSON COUNTY 57
The East Hall boys opened their Region 7-AAA season with a hard-fought win at home.
The game was tight through the first 13 minutes. The teams finished the first quarter tied at 13 and Dawson County led 22-20 midway through the second quarter.
East Hall (4-1, 1-0) took control over the final three minutes of the second quarter. The Vikings outscored the Tigers 14-2 to close out the second quarter for a 34-24 halftime lead.
The Tigers (3-3, 0-1) came out hot to start the third quarter cutting the lead to 37-33 on a Jeremiah Crumley 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. They trailed 45-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
The game jockeyed back-and-forth in the fourth quarter. Dawson County three times cut the lead to four points and then got as close as 55-52 with just under five minutes left in the game.
But the Vikings pulled away. Triston Cooper hit a 3-pointer to spark a quick 9-1 run for a 64-53 lead less than a minute later. The Tigers never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Senior Tyler Brown had a game-high 29 points, including an impressive 13-of-13 from the free throw line to pace the Vikings. Jacquen Hopkins added 13 points and Tristan Cooper had 12 for East Hall.
Cullen Reed had 17 points to lead Dawson County. Crumley finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, Noah Davis had 12 points and Gabe Bryant 10 points for the Tigers.
East Hall will play host to Banks County on Friday while Dawson County will take a week off before traveling to Banks County next Tuesday.
