DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — It looked as if the Dawson County boys were going to stroll to a blowout win over Region 7-3A foe West Hall at halftime on Friday.
That's not how it ended.
The Tigers (11-8, 4-3 Region 7-3A) had to hold on, battle through turnovers, and missed key foul shots in the second half to get the hard win, 50-43, over the Spartans (4-13, 2-5 Region 7-3A) at the Ford Phillips Center in Dawsonville.
"They’re a very well-coached team,” Dawson County coach Todd Cottrell said. “Coach (Chuck) Graham is an outstanding coach, and our kids battled and played hard, but we had chances to extend leads and just couldn’t do it. But I’m glad our guys hung on at the end.”
The Tigers' final free throw performance wasn't all that bad, finishing the night 10-of-18, including 7-of-10 in the final quarter, but it was the key stretch late in the second and early in the third quarter that stalled the blowout with missed free throws and turnovers. The Tigers were 3-of-8 from the line during that stretch and turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter -- 11 total in the second half.
"Those are things you can’t have if you’re going to be a very good team," Cottrell said. "But we had enough of a lead to survive some of that, and that’s stuff we can clean up, and hopefully we will.”
West Hall struggled on the offensive end most of the first half, allowing the Tigers to break out on a 16-2 run in the first quarter after taking the game's first lead 2-0. Caden Reed was a huge part of the Tigers' run, scoring 12 points, all from the 3-point line, and ended the half with 16. He finished the night with a game-high 18 points.
But the Spartans found a bit more offense in the second quarter, closing the gap 30-16 by halftime and playing the Tigers to a 9-9 tie in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Spartans opened on a 5-0 run, with Ian Pardue splashing a trey and Xavier Felix popping a bucket to cut the lead to 10 points, 40-30 with 6:41 left in the game. It was the closest the Spartans had been since the early first quarter. But the Tigers fired right back, behind Ethan Parker and Trey Harvey, to up the lead 45-32 with 3:57 remaining.
Then the Spartans rallied again with a 3-pointer from Pardue. The Spartans turned two Dawson County turnovers into four more points to get closer, 45-39, with under two minutes to go. West Hall outscored Dawson County 11-3 in the final four minutes of the game to get within five points.
But the Tigers improved from the foul line in the final quarter, going 7-of-10, including five straight from Parker to help seal the game. Parker ended the night with 13 points. Harvey finished with 12.
Felix led the Spartans with 10 points, and Pardue and Troy Smith had nine points each.
