Head Coach Thad Burgess and his varsity Tiger basketball team traveled to Blue Ridge last Tuesday night for a big match-up against Region 8-AA foe Fannin County. The Tigers held off a late Rebel charge to come away with a 61-58 victory.

Stephen Scaife had a huge game offensively for the Tigers with 26 points.

Tyler Dominy and Jacob Evans also scored in double digits with 17 and 14 points respectively.

“It was really good physical win for us on the road,” said Burgess. “We have lost to Fannin the last two years in similar situations on the road. It was their senior night and we handled the pressure pretty well.”

The game got off to a slow start offensively for both teams. Dawson and Fannin were tied at 8-8 at the end of one period.

Offensively, both teams caught on fire in the second quarter. The Tigers outscored Fannin 24-15 to take a halftime lead of 32-23.

The third quarter action was pretty intense with both teams trading baskets.

Fannin scored 18 points to Dawson’s 17, but the Tigers still held a 49-41 lead.

Tyler Dominy was the star from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Dominy converted 11-of-12 free throws to secure the win for the Tigers.

Dawson only scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, all of them from the free throw line.

“I thought Stephen Scaife has been super the last two games for us. He has done a great job of getting to the basket and finishing. It has shown up on his offense, scoring 26 tonight and against Union County,” said Burgess.

Also scoring for Dawson County were Levi Wilson with three points and Stephen Johnson with one point.

Gavin Collins scored 16 points to lead Fannin County.

The Tigers are currently 18-6 overall for the season.

“This type of game should really help us finish the regular season against a strong Rabun County team,” said Burgess.

Rabun County defeated the Tigers 65-57 in Tiger a couple of weeks ago.

The Rabun game was rescheduled for Monday in Dawsonville, scores were not available as of press time.

Dawson County will host the first round of the Region 8-AA playoffs this week.

The exact schedule had not been determined as of press time, due to the fact that some teams are trying to finish out their regular seasons.

The Tigers know that they will play East Jackson for a chance to return to the state tournament.

East Jackson defeated the Tigers 56-44 in December.