Dawson County High School senior Jacob Evans tied a school record by nailing eight, 3-pointers and scoring 33 points to lead the Tigers basketball team to a third place finish in a Thanksgiving tournament held last week at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula.
The game-high 33 points came against host Hebron (0-4) on Nov. 23 in a 52-35 victory for Dawson County.
“We came out and took control the first quarter, as Jacob hit six, 3-point shots to get us going,” said Head Coach Thad Burgess.
Behind Evans’ offensive explosion the Tigers took a 16-5 first quarter lead. Dawson extended its lead to 29-13 at the half.
The second half was much the same as Dawson continued to build on its advantage. With the big lead, Burgess got to play several players off his bench.
“It was good to be able to play a lot of players as we head into the break for a few days,” Burgess said.
Tyler Dominy also scored in double figures against Hebron, with 10 points.
Dominy was followed by Jonathon Sanderson with five points, and Grant Shope with one point in the win.
The Tiger defense was very strong, allowing Hebron just single digit points in three of the four quarters played.
Dawson entered the tournament with a first round match-up with Mt. Pisgah. The Tigers lost the contest 63-54. A poor fourth quarter doomed the Tigers. The team scored only four points and relinquished a 50-42 lead going into the final quarter of play.
“We played as well as we could for the first three periods of play against a very tall, athletic and deep team,” Burgess said. “We ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. However, our effort was there as indicated by us out rebounding them 43-17, which indicated we played very hard, but were unable to handle some mental and fatigue problems in the last quarter.”
Dominy had a great game offensively with 23 points. Evans also had a good game as he poured in 10 points and had a remarkable 19 rebounds to record a double-double in the loss.
Also getting in the Tigers scoring column was Kaleb Holbrook with nine points, Levi Wilson added seven points, and Stephen Johnson scored five points.
Mt. Pisgah was led by Klye Sloter with 18 points.
“I was very pleased with our effort in both games. We were disappointed in the loss and our players do not accept that, but think it will help us later in the season.
“As all teams, the first several weeks leading up to the Christmas tournaments, we are trying to find our best combinations, deal with a lot of different situations, and decide on tempos for the region schedule,” Burgess said.
The Tigers are currently 2-1 on the season.
The team will play at home this Friday with a game against Gilmer County at 8:30 p.m. On Dec. 7 the Tigers will travel to Lambert High School for a game with the Longhorns. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.