The determination and drive are still there for Dawson County High School Head Coach Steve Sweat’s varsity Lady Tiger basketball team.
Wins are a different matter. The Lady Tigers dropped three games last week.
The Lady Tigers lost games to White County, 46-32, Creekview, 54-31 and Pacelli, 44-39.
Dawson is currently on a four game losing streak with the team’s only wins coming against Tallulah Falls.
The Lady Tigers are 2-5 overall for the season.
The team will get a chance to regroup before hosting North Oconee Friday night at the Ford E. Phillips gymnasium.
It will be the first Region 8-AA game for Dawson County.
Dawson played host to 7-AAA White County (3-4) Tuesday, Dec. 9 and lost 46-32.
The game was close until the fourth quarter when White County mounted an offensive surge and pulled away to secure the win.
The Lady Tigers kept the game close throughout, trailing by 6-points at halftime, 23-17.
The Lady Tigers drew within two points, 27-25, with 3:48 to play in the third quarter.
White County then went on a 10-1 run to extend their lead to 36-26 with 5:56 left to play in the fourth quarter. The lone point by the Lady Tigers came on a free throw by Jade Hyde.
Sweat’s team couldn’t recover and fell to White by 14-points.
Leading the scoring for Dawson was sophomore point guard Morgan Bennett with 10 points.
White County was led in scoring by Madeline Wilbanks with 11 points and Jamie Whitfield with 10 points.
Lady Tiger scoring: M. Bennett-10; Judith Hall-7; Jessi Phillips-4; Cheyenne Bennett-4; Kaitlyn Pain-3; Jade Hyde-2 and Christian Daniel-2.
Friday, Dec. 12 the Lady Tigers faced tough 7-AAA opponent Creekview at home.
The Lady Grizzlies from Creekview came into the game with a 3-2 record.
Dawson put up a fight, but came away on the short end of a 54-31 decision.
Cheyenne Bennett had a double-double for the Lady Tigers. Bennett poured in 10 points and secured 10 rebounds in the losing effort.
The Lady Tigers were down 21-14 at the half.
Creekview opened the third quarter with an offensive explosion and outscored Dawson 24-8 to take a 45-22 lead as the buzzer sounded ending the quarter.
The Lady Tigers never recovered and lost the team’s third consecutive game.
“We were OK except for the third quarter,” Sweat said.
“We allowed them to increase the lead and we couldn’t catch up. We showed some improvement, but still had too many turnovers that turned into quick scores for Creekview,” he added.
Creekview was led in scoring by Danielle Tidwell and Savannah Turner, with 16 and 14 points respectively
Lady Tiger scorers: C. Bennett-10; Kimberly Wallace-6; Christian Daniel-4; Natalie Parker-4; Madelyn Walters-2; Morgan Bennett-2; Judith Hall-2 and Jade Hyde-1.
The Lady Tigers had an opportunity to do what some high school players dream of on Saturday.
Sweat and his team played a game in Philips Arena prior to the Atlanta Hawks game with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Lady Tigers matched up with the Pacelli Lady Vikings out of Columbus.
Pacelli came into the contest with a 4-2 record in Region 2-A.
The game was close throughout with the Lady Vikings pulling away with a 44-39 victory.
“We were very fortunate to be able to play our game Saturday in Philips Arena against Pacelli,” said Sweat.
Morgan Bennett and Jessi Phillips both scored in double digits for the Lady Tigers. Each scored 10 points for their team Judith Hall contributed 8 points for as well.
Lady Tiger scorers: Phillips – 10; M. Bennett – 10; Hall – 8; Madalyn Walters – 2; Kaitlyn Pain – 2; Christian Daniel – 2; C. Bennett – 2; Wallace – 1.