DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — White County has senior and two-time Region 7-3A PLayer of the Year Jadon Yeh.
But it was freshman Braxton Anderson and sophomore Dawson Oliver that may have propelled the Warriors into history on Saturday night in the 7-3A championship game at the Ford Phillips Center.
Anderson scored all 11 of his points in the second half, Oliver hit a pair of huge fourth quarter 3-pointers, and both complemented Yeh’s 15 second half points as the Warriors held off Gilmer, 66-59, to capture the program’s first-ever region title.
After falling in the title game each of the last two seasons, White County coach Robbie Bailey said he tried a slightly different approach this time around.
“I probably made too big a deal about it the last couple of years,” Bailey admitted. “This time, I just told them to relax, that no matter what, we had a home playoff game. I guess that worked.”
The two teams split their two regular-season meetings, and this one was a tight game throughout. The two teams traded the lead 10 times in the first half alone, with White County leading 13-12 after the opening frame. The Warriors eventually pushed their lead to 22-18 on a four-point play from David Boman.
The Bobcats (19-9) answered that with an 11-5 run to close the half for a 29-27 lead. They used a 5-0 run to open their quarter to push the lead to 34-27, their biggest of the game.
That’s when Anderson, Oliver, and Yeh began to take over. Anderson scored nine points in a three-minute span to pull White County within 38-37, and then Yeh converted three free throws for a 40-38 lead. The Warriors never trailed again.
“Our kids answered the bell tonight,” Bailey said.”These guys just never quit. We got contributions from a lot of guys. We went in wanting to stop (Ryder Wofford) and (Jackson McVey), and I thought we did a good job of putting bodies on those guys.”
The Bobcats did get within 44-42 on a McVey basket to open the fourth quarter, but Yeh scored, Oliver hit a 3-pointer, and Anderson made a huge steal and assisted on a Yeh basket as the Warriors ran the lead back out to 51-44. Gilmer responded again to trim the lead to 51-50, but that was as close as they could get.
White County (17-11) hit 6-of-7 free throws in the final two minutes to preserve the win.
Yeh finished with 20 points, including going 9-of-10 from the line. Oliver finished with 8 points for the Warriors. The bench scored 17 crucial points as well.
McVey had a game-high 21 points to lead Gilmer. Keegan Bryant added 12, and Wofford had 9 for the Bobcats.
Both teams will play host to first round games next week. White County will take on Hebron Christian, while Gilmer will play Hart County.
