DAHLONEGA, Ga. — How appropriate it was that Chestatee girls coach Sutton Shirley talked about finding gold on Tuesday night in a big Region 6-3A showdown with Lumpkin County in the Gold City.
On a night when the shots weren’t falling much of the time, Chestatee turned to its defense.
The Lady War Eagles survived a rough shooting night, forcing 22 Lumpkin County turnovers on defense, and used two quick runs, one in each half, to rally for a 52-42 win at Lynn Cottrell Court.
“We had to fight through a poor shooting first half, and our defense did not drop a ton through that,” a somewhat perturbed Chestatee coach Sutton Shirley said afterward. “(East Hall boys) coach (Joe) Dix told me a long time ago: region road wins are gold, and we just got one. That was huge for us to hang on and win a game when we did not play very well.”
Oddly enough, it was the first true road win (1-4) for Chestatee (11-5, 3-2 Region 6-3A) this season. Lumpkin County (7-9, 2-3 Region 6-3A) fell to 1-4 at home.
The first quarter saw Chestatee start out ice cold from the field (2-of-12). The Lady Indians were 3-of-3 from the field at the time but had 8 turnovers in their first 11 possessions. However, the Lady War Eagles could not take advantage with the poor shooting.
Lumpkin County led 10-6 following five straight points from Alayna Lindley with just 34 seconds left in the quarter. Emerson Reese gave the Lady Indians a 12-11 lead early in the second quarter before Chestatee finally got going on the offensive end.
Lexi Moss hit one free throw, and then Caroline Bull drained back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 10-2 run for a 21-14 lead with just under three minutes left in the half.
Lumpkin County was able to stay close on two baskets from Reagan Richardson and one from Riley Dyer to pull within 23-20 by the half.
But in the third quarter, Chestatee got two more 3-pointers from Caroline Bull and another from Addison Boyd to cap an 11-2 run to begin the second half. They led 36-24 midway through the third before the Lady Indians cut the lead to 36-34 with a 10-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Lindley.
But that would be as close as Lumpkin would get. Ali Jae Bull and Caroline Bull sparked a 9-0 run to take control. The Lady Indians pulled within 45-42 with 2:27 left on a Maddie Lee basket, but Chestatee closed out the game with a 7-0 run to run its win streak to three straight.
Lindley paced the Lady Indians with 12 points. Reese had 9 for Lumpkin County.
Ali Jae Bull led Chestatee with 18 points, and Caroline Bull finished with 15 on five 3-pointers. Boyd had 9 points, all in the second half, including 4 in the final run.
“In big moments, there's a lot of times where we call (Addison’s) number, even when it doesn't make a ton of sense, because we trust her. She came through again,” Shirley said.
The Lady War Eagles will not be back in action until next Tuesday when they play host to arch-rival North Hall in another huge region contest. They came into the Lumpkin game as part of four teams tied for third place.
Shirley is hoping they are ready to separate themselves from the middle of the pack and make a run at the top spot after winning 8 of their last 9, including capturing the Lanierland championship.
“I think we've played really well ever since the GAC game (Dec. 13), and I think we're a pretty good team,” he said. “I like where we are right now.”
