The Lady Tigers participated in the 7-AAA Regional Tournament this past weekend after a win over Union County.
As the 4th seed in the Region, DCHS faced Union County for the third time Feb. 7.
The Lady Tigers got off to a slow start against Union County: The Lady Panthers were up 22-19 at the half after a disappointing first half from DCHS.
"It's tough playing somebody for a third time and Union County took advantage of that early on," said Head Coach Steve Sweat.
Despite the setback, however, Dawson rallied to score 22 points in the 3rd quarter, taking a 47-27 lead. Led by top scorer, Kaylee Sticker, who scored 19 points, the Tigers finished off Union County 53-41.
Recognized at the semi-final of the regional tournament, hosted by Dawson County on Feb. 9, Sticker earned the 1,000th point of her career against Union County. More impressively, Sticker earned this milestone as a junior.
"[I'm] very proud of Kaylee for accomplishing that level of scoring," said Sweat. "She has worked hard to reach that goal."
Other contributing scorers in the game against Union County included Cadey Ayers, scoring 8, Marlie Townley and Calli Watson with 7 points apiece, Anna Lowe with 6 and Sophia D'Oliveira with 2 points.
Moving onto the semi-finals on Feb. 9, the Lady Tigers met face-to-face with Greater Atlanta Christian.
Sticker started the game strong by scoring 3 points on the Lady Spartans almost immediately, but it was one of the last hoops that the Tigers would score during the first quarter. In a first half largely dominated by turnovers, top-scoring Sticker was then injured with four minutes and 18 seconds left. After this blow to the Tiger team, Dawson found themselves on the losing end of a 30-12 score going into half.
Relentless, the Lady Spartans refused to let up on an injured DCHS team, running up the score on the Tigers.
The return of Kaylee Sticker with five minutes to go in the third stopped the bleeding temporarily, but after getting behind, it wasn't enough to put the Lady Tigers back in the game.
"You must protect the ball against a team as good as them," said Sweat. “You have to make every possession count. We could not get anything going on offense...[This] was one of our lowest point totals of the season."
The 58-32 GAC beat down of the Lady Tigers in the semi-final of the regional tournament sent DCHS to the consolation round against the North Hall Lady Trojans.
The Lady Tigers, having previously played North Hall in a tight overtime game, played the match-up to determine 3rd and 4th place in the region Feb. 10. Despite coming out strong, North Hall took the victory for a one point 63-62 win.
Though North Hall led at the half, a strong performance by Dawson County in the 3rd quarter made it a close game. Ultimately, the Lady Trojans 18-13 victory over the Tigers in the 3rd quarter won the game.
"We have got to be smarter with the ball on every possession and in every situation," said Sweat on the loss.
In preparation for the state tournament, the Lady Tigers took Monday off and resumed practice on Tuesday. The team will travel to Franklin County for an away game at 6 p.m. Friday.