Playing without his football players, Coach Thad Burgess' varsity Tiger basketball team defeated Rabun County, 56-49, in a preseason scrimmage against Rabun County last week in Dawsonville.

"It was good to get some game experience for several players," Burgess said. "Our biggest goal is to improve our depth this year. I thought we competed well, a little too excited and too fast, but it was fun."

The Tigers were missing Tyler Dominy, Will Anglin, Jackson Putnam and Bruce Clark. The foursome was playing in the state football playoffs.

Dawson secured a 30-22 lead at halftime over the Wildcats.

Both teams played evenly over the last two quarters with Dawson County coming out on top for the 7-point win.

Three Tiger players scored in double digits. The team was led by Gunnar Armstrong with 14 points. Jonathan Sanderson and Lucas Pain added 11 and 12 points respectively on the offensive end for the Tigers.

Leading the scoring for Rabun County was Austin Dinofold with 15 points, followed by Jordan Oliver with 11 points.

The Tigers will play next in Dahlonega against the Lumpkin County Indians on Nov. 27. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Tigers scoring: Armstrong-14 points; Pain-12 points; Sanderson-11 points; Terrell Dawson-8 points; Steven Stanfill-4 points and Camron Chester-3 points.