It has been a long time since the Dawson County Lady Tiger basketball team has started the season at 4-0. But Coach Steve Sweat has his team winning.

The team won the Hebron Turkey Classic over Thanksgiving break.

The tournament was played at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula.

Dawson played in the first game on Nov. 23 against Mt. Pisgah Christian School. The Lady Patriots came into the contest with a 1-3 overall record.

Dawson jumped on Mt. Pisgah early to gain a 10-3 lead after one period of play.

The Lady Tiger defense kept up the pressure and the team extended its lead to 21-11 at halftime.

Sweat’s team put the game out of reach in the third quarter. The Lady Tigers outscored Mt. Pisgah 12-7. to widen its lead to 33-18.

Coach Ashley McNair’s Lady Patriot team fought to the final buzzer, but it wasn’t enough as Dawson County came away with a 47-35 win.

Lady Tiger junior Jessi Phillips had a huge game for Dawson County. Phillips finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds, recording her first double-double of the season.

Hannah Porter, freshman guard, scored eight points for the Lady Tigers. Porter was perfect from the free throw line, going 4-for-4.

Also scoring for Dawson County were:  Allie Costley with seven point and six rebounds, Christian Daniel had six points and five rebounds, Morgan Bennett contributed five points, Nikki Dean scored four points, freshman Kenna Seitz had three points, and rounding out the scoring was Carly Gilreath with two points.

In the championship game on Tuesday night, the Lady Tigers were matched up with host Hebron Christian Academy. The Lady Lions reached the final game with a 73-11 win over Tech High School.

It was a hard fought battle between two very good teams. The Lady Tigers were able to prevail to bring home a first place trophy with a 65-55 victory.

With the loss Hebron falls to 2-1 overall for the season.

Dawson County had a comfortable 12-point led at halftime, 35-23.

The Lady Lions came out of the dressing room with fire in their eyes. Hebron closed the gap to within two points in the third quarter. Coach Jason Harris’ team outscored Dawson County 20-13 in the quarter.

After an inspirational talk between quarters, the Lady Tigers bounced back in the fourth quarter. Dawson outscored Hebron 17-12 in the quarter to take the 10-point win.

Offensively, Jessi Phillips was on fire for the second night in a row. Phillips poured in 17 points while pulling down six rebounds.

Freshman Carly Gilreath also scored in double digits for Dawson, finishing the game with 13 points.

Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were:  Allie Costley with nine points, Morgan Bennett scored eight points, Christian Daniel with six points, Judith Hall and Hannah Porter had four points each, Kenna Seitz and Nikki Dean each had two points each.

“It’s great opening the season without a loss,” Sweat said. “I’m proud of the girls. We still have some things to work on, but we will get better.”

The team will have a busy week. On Friday, the Lady Tigers travel to Ellijay to square off against Gilmer County, 0-3, from Region 7-AAA.

Saturday, the team will play host to Walnut Grove, who is 0-2 on the season.

This will be a Region 8-AA crossover game.

Tuesday, the Lady Tigers will make the long trip to Homer for a Region 8-AA match-up with Banks County.

The Gilmer game will tip-off at 7 p.m., while the games against Walnut Grove and Banks County begin at 6 p.m.