The Dawson County Lady Tigers crushed the Cherokee Bluff  Lady Bears 62-27 on Friday, Jan. 8 for the Lady Tigers’ first region win of the season. 

The win comes after a performance against North Hall that Lady Tigers head coach Eric Herrick bluntly called “bad.”

“I’ll be honest with you,” Herrick said. “After Tuesday night, something had to change. We were so lethargic. No effort, no enthusiasm. We’ve had a tough week of practice. We’ve had some difficult conversations. So to see this team come out and respond tonight, I could not be happier as a coach.”

The Lady Tigers (7-4, 1-2 in region 7-3A) never let Cherokee Bluff (5-10, 1-4 in region 7-3A) seem like they were competing for a win in this game. They outscored the Lady Bears 15-3 in the first half and never took their foot off of the gas pedal. 

Kirklyn Porter scored 17 points for the Lady Tigers and tied with Maddie Anglin for most assists in the game with four. Porter was aggressive on the defensive side as well, stealing the ball four times.

Abby Samples-Slaton reached double-digit points with 11 of her own and Mariah Benson was just two points away from a double-double, acquiring 10 rebounds and eight points during Friday’s action. 

The Lady Tigers will hop right back into region play on Saturday, Jan. 9 against the Lumpkin County Indians (10-3, 3-0 in region 7-3A). The game starts at 4 p.m. at Lumpkin County High School.