DAHLONEGA — It may have been two days later than they hoped, but the White County boys finally secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Region 7-3A Tournament.
The Warriors used a 3-point shooting barrage in the second quarter to turn a slim 21-20 lead over Lumpkin County into an eventual runaway victory, 62-42, at Lynn Cottrell Gym.
White County (16-8, 12-2 Region 7-3A) came in tied with the Trojans (20-4, 11-2 Region 7-3A) who will close out their season on Friday at home against East Forsyth. The Warriors swept North Hall during the regular season and hold the tiebreaker if the Trojans also get a win to finish their regular season.
“It’s a great accomplishment and we’re excited about being the No. 1 seed,” White County coach Robbie Bailey said.
The Warriors will be off for 10 days until they play in the semifinals next Saturday at Cherokee Bluff.
“That is a long break, but we still have some things to work on before then,” Bailey said. “Our goal is win the region tournament, which has been done by a boys team at White County.”
On Thursday, the Indians made the Warriors work early on. The two teams traded three lead changes with two ties in the first quarter with the Warriors holding a tight 13-11 edge.
Cal Faulkner hit a 3-pointer to get the Indians' within 15-14 early in the second and Hunter Cooper got them to 21-20 with 4:26 left in the half.
Silas Mulligan and Jadon Yeh took control for White County from there. Mulligan scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer, Yeh hit a pair of treys, and (23 and 2) also added 3-pointers as the Warriors exploded for a 20-2 run to close out the half for a 41-22 lead.
White County was blistering from 3-point range in the first half, hitting its final 8 treys to finish 8-of-10 for the half.
The Warriors continued their hot shooting in the third quarter using a 13-1 run to extend the lead to 54-23. Lumpkin County made it closer after both teams emptied the benches in the fourth quarter.
Yeh finished with 20 points and Mulligan 19 for White County. Kenny Simpson added 8 points for the Warriors.
Harris, a senior, led Lumpkin County with 14 points on Senior Night. Harper Davenport had 10 points, Cooper 9, and Faulkner 5 for the Indians.
LUMPKIN COUNTY GIRLS 64,
WHITE COUNTY 52
Averie Jones and Mary Mullinax each scored 19 points to lead Lumpkin County to the win in both teams regular season finales.
The win for the Lady Indians (23-1, 14-0 Region 7-3A) completed a perfect run through the region. The loss for the Lady Warriors (13-10, 9-5 Region 7-3A) could be costly as they came in tied for second and an automatic berth into the state playoffs with East Forsyth.
Lumpkin opened the game with an 18-11 run and rolled out to a 34-22 halftime lead. But White County responded in the third quarter.
The Lady Warriors came out firing in the third quarter, using a 20-10 run to pull within 42-40 heading into the fourth. But Lumpkin County answered that with a 20-10 run of its own, including an 11-4 spurt after Naomi Roberts got White County within 52-46 with just over four minutes left.
Kate Jackson finished with 16 points for Lumpkin County.
Chesnee Freeman led White County with 13 points. Roberts finished with 11 points for the Lady Warriors.
Both teams are off until the Region 7-3A Tournament begins next week. Lumpkin County will not play until next Thursday’s semifinals. The Lady Warriors will have to wait until after Friday’s games to determine when they will play.
