Dawson County High School Varsity Boys' Basketball Coach Thad Burgess' varsity boys' basketball team played four games last week.

The Tigers continue to exhibit great effort, but ended up 1-3 for the week.

"We just tried to find some combinations that will give us the best chance to win during our holiday tournaments," Burgess said. "Being able to defend and rebound against teams causes us to have less confidence on offense. We are presently playing three freshmen a good deal of the games , which makes the physical part really difficult, and the speed of the game - that will take the player's time to learn."

Burgess said he has seen some improvement.

"We played better the last couple of days in Tennessee, but came back home and struggled," Burgess said.

The team traveled to Tennessee for the Mountain Top Classic for three games after Christmas.

Dawson County dropped a close contest to Wilson Central, 51-47, on Dec. 29. Wilson (3-7) jumped out to an early 12-4 lead after eight minutes of play.

The Tigers rebounded with a big second quarter and outscored Wilson 17-9 to tie the game at 21-21 at halftime.

The Tigers came out of the locker room and took a 37-34 lead by the end of the third quarter.

However, Wilson's offense got hot in the final eight minutes and outscored Dawson County 17-10 to take the victory.

Tiger Jeremiah Crumley led the scoring with 15 points, all three-pointers.

Freshman Cullen Reed also scored in double digits with 14 points.

Also scoring was J.T. Eggert, who scored seven points; Dylan Nix added one point; and Brandon Abbott had six points.

Wilson Central was led by Kirk Dalton with 17 points and Gavin Johnson with 16 points.

The final game of the tournament on Dec. 30 saw the Tigers capture a 48-37 win over Murfreesboro Central.

Once again Burgess' team got off to a slow start and trailed 9-5 after the first eight minutes.

The Tigers offense got on track in the second quarter and scored 19 points to take a 24-19 advantage going into halftime.

The Tigers never trailed the rest of the game and came away with the much-needed 12-point win.

Jackson Morgan and Levi Whitmire led Dawson County in scoring with 13 and 10 points respectively.

Also putting points on the board for the Tigers were Eggert and Reed with two points eachs; Logan Crumley had six points; Nix scored nine points; Abbot finished up the scoring with six points.

The team returned home to play St. Anne-Pacelli on Jan. 2.

Despite playing a good first half, trailing 22-20, the Tigers fell apart in the third quarter and were outscored 20-10 to give Pacelli a 42-30 lead.

It was much of the same in the fourth quarter as Pacelli (6-2) took control of the game and cruised to a 64-41 win.

Scoring for the Tigers were Reed with 11 points, Whitmire added nine points, Morgan with six points, Nix scored five, Eggert scored four, Coey Watson, Crumley and Abbott each contributed two points.

Pacelli was led in scoring by Armon Prophet with 18 points and Tre Sudberry with 17 points.

On Friday the Tigers traveled to Rabbittown to play East Hall in a big Region 7-AAA showdown.

The Vikings height and athleticism allowed them to jump out to a huge 26-2 first quarter lead.

East Hall continued the full court pressure in the second quarter, overwhelming Dawson County by a 50-14 score by halftime.

East Hall (10-2; 4-0) continued the offensive barrage in the third quarter and built a 73-25 lead.

The game was shortened in the final quarter, due to the GHSA mercy rule, to six minutes. The Vikings took the 79-34 win.

Tylor Brown led the Vikings in scoring with 17 points.

Also scoring in double digits for East Hall was Triston Cooper with 16 points.

Dawson County had two players score in double digits. Morgan contributed with 12 points and Crumley scored 10 points.

Also scoring for the Tigers were Reed with eight points, Nix and Abbott each had two points.

Dawson County is currently 3-14 and 0-4 in region play.

"We have played nine games in two weeks," Burgess said. "We just don't have the depth to do that, but hopefully, as we get on a regular Tuesday and Friday region schedule the rest of the year, the game experience will help our younger players continue to develop.

"This week's region home games are very important if we hope to compete in the region."

Up next will be two home games for the Tigers.

The Tigers hosted rival Lumpkin County (4-11; 2-2) on Tuesday. Scores were not available as of press time.

The team will play Fannin County (7-5; 1-2) on Friday at home.

"We need something good to happen to give us some needed confidence during January with all the region games scheduled coming up," Burgess said.