The Dawson County High School varsity boys basketball team broke its eight-game losing streak with a 59-40 win over Murray County Saturday night at the Mistletoe Madness Christmas tournament at North Murray High School in Chatsworth.
With the win, the Tigers are currently 2-8 overall and 0-3 in Region 7-AAA play.
Friday night the team made a two-hour trip to Carnesville to face a very talented Franklin County team.
The Lions feature 6'10" player, Devin Vickery.
Coach Thad Burgess' team had a great first half to take a 28-27 lead at the break.
Franklin County picked up the defense in the third quarter and outscored the Tigers 12-7 to take a 39-34 advantage.
Both teams traded baskets in the final eight minutes.
The Lions connected on two three-pointers to take a 57-55 lead in the waning moments of the game.
Dawson County had a wide open three pointer at the buzzer to win the game, but the shot came up short to give Franklin County the win.
"It was really a heartbreaker at Franklin County," Burgess said. "Their seven-footer gave us some match-up problems early, but then we were able to control and battle till we got a chance to pull off the win."
Jackson Morgan had a game-high 20 points in the loss.
Morgan was followed by teammates Levi Whitmire with 13 points and Cullen Reed with 10 points.
Leading Franklin County in scoring was Phoenix Roberts with 15 points and Devin Vickery with 14 points.
After getting back late Friday night, the team had to jump on the bus for another long trip to Chatsworth on Saturday.
Despite the long bus ride, Dawson County jumped out to a big 22-8 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Tigers continued to pour on the offense with 13 more points in the second quarter to hold a 35-14 advantage at the intermission.
Both teams played evenly on offense in the second half, but Dawson County was able to come away with the much needed victory.
Levi Whitmire, Jackson Morgan and J.T. Eggert all scored in double digits with 19, 13 and 11 points respectively.
Hunter Ary led Murray County with 10 points.
"I like how we were able to travel two hours after the night before we were at Franklin, another long trip," Burgess said.
In the semi-finals, the Tigers played a 9-1 Dalton Catamount team. The Catamount defeated Gordon Lee, 71-47, in the opening round.
The game was played on Monday. Scores were unavailable at press time.
"We just have to keep battling and hope to use these six tournament games, at North Murray and in Tennessee, to decide on how we will compete in the second half of the year as region play gets into full swing," Burgess said. "It's frustrating for all of us, but we still keep playing and just hope we can find a way to be able to hang around and steal some wins."