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Tigers defeat Union for the 7th time in row
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The Dawson County varsity boys’ basketball team seems to have Union County’s number.

  

For the seventh straight game over the last four years the Tigers defeated the Panthers 46-27 Friday.

  

Dawson currently owns a 10-2 record against the team from Blairsville since Head Coach Thad Burgess took over the Dawson County basketball reigns six years ago.

  

It looked glum earlier in the week for the Tigers.

  

Last Tuesday, Dawson traveled to Jefferson to play a much more athletic team and came away with a 47-36 loss to the Dragons.

  

“With the win against Union our kids now have something to work for,” said Burgess. “We have a chance to place either second or third depending on what happens this week with Fannin and Rabun. It lets us feel that something good could happen to us at the end.”

  

The Tigers are currently 12-10 on the season with two games remaining against Fannin County at home, Tuesday. The game will also serve as Senior Night for Dawson County.

  

The Tigers will travel to Rabun County Friday.

  

The game against Fannin County will tip-off around 7:30 p.m., while Friday’s game should start at 8:30 p.m.

  

Earlier this year Dawson lost to Fannin 44-42 and Rabun 61-52.

  

Jacob Evans had a big night for the Tigers against Jefferson. Evans finished the game with yet another double-double. Evans contributed 15 points and pulled down 11 rebounds against the Dragons.

  

It wasn’t enough for the Tigers, Jefferson opened up a 32-21 halftime lead and held on to get the victory 47-36.

  

“We played OK. I thought we did a good job of handling the pressure. The game was a lot closer than the score indicated. Jefferson did a good job of penetrating our zone and that hurt. We had to foul at the end, so the score looks a little lopsided,” Burgess said about the game.

  

Dawson scorers: Evans-15; Kaleb Holbrook-7; Blythe Chester-8; Levi Wilson-3; Stephen Johnson-1.

  

The 3-2 zone worked its magic against Union County Friday.

  

The Panthers were able to score only six, four and five points the first three quarters against the match-up zone.

  

Dawson hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to come away with the 16-point win.

  

Tiger Stephen Scaife, from his point guard position, was 10-of-14 from the free throw line to help seal the victory for Dawson.

  

“Usually Stephen has the ball in his hands down the stretch, but they kept fouling him and he stepped up and hit the free throws for us,” said Burgess.

  

Foul trouble was a concern in the first half for the Tigers. Blythe Chester and Jacob Evans picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter and had to sit until after halftime.

  

“It was just like up there. We got in foul trouble early so we had to take the air out of the ball,” Burgess said.

  

The score would indicate that, as Dawson held on to a low 16-10 lead after two quarter of play.

  

The Tigers opened up the scoring in the third quarter. The Tigers started the third with an 8-0 run to take a 24-10 lead. Union couldn’t recover and Dawson held on to the big sub-region win.

  

“That may have been the best second half in our last 12 to 14 games,” remarked Burgess. “I thought that Seth (Stowers) shot the ball well and that really helped.”

  

Seth Stowers led all scorers with 15 points for the Tigers. Scaife also scored in double digits with 12 points. Blythe Chester had a big night on the boards as he pulled down 12 rebounds.

  

Seth Merritt led the Panthers with 11 points.

  

Dawson scorers: Stowers-15; Scaife-12; Kaleb Holbrook-7; Chester-7; Jacob Evans-3; Mark Dodd-2.

  

E-mail Pam Jacobs at sports@dawsonnews.com.